TheCount
12-01-2018, 10:04 AM
In 2018, 14.3 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired capacity was retired, up from 7GW retired in 2017. That constitutes the second-biggest year for coal-fired capacity retirement since 2015, according to new research from S&P Global Market Intelligence (https://platform.mi.spglobal.com/web/client?auth=inherit#news/article?id=48671375&cdid=A-48671375-11561). In 2015, 14.7GW of coal-fired capacity was retired.
The Trump administration campaigned on its ability to save coal by cutting back Obama-era regulations. But in 2017, a Department of Energy-commissioned report (https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/08/energy-departments-contentious-baseload-study-is-out/) gave the administration some bad news: environmental regulations aren’t what’s killing coal—economics are. According to a recent report from market research firm Lazard on the leveled cost of energy, building new renewable energy is currently cheaper than paying marginal costs for many coal plants. And innovations in fracking have dropped the cost of US natural gas far below that of coal.As the US coal fleet ages, utilities and energy companies are incentivized to replace old coal plants with natural gas plants and renewable energy.
S&P Global says that an additional 23.1GW of coal plant capacity has been announced to be retired between 2019 and 2024, for a total of 71.9GW of retirements or planned retirements between 2014 and 2024. "The analysis shows about 245.6GW of current operating coal plant capacity in the US," S&P Global wrote.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/11/coal-plant-closures-double-in-2018-coal-production-flat-or-down/
Article also covers coal production, which was down for 2018. Must be time for some new subsidies or something. Tariffs, maybe?
The Trump administration campaigned on its ability to save coal by cutting back Obama-era regulations. But in 2017, a Department of Energy-commissioned report (https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/08/energy-departments-contentious-baseload-study-is-out/) gave the administration some bad news: environmental regulations aren’t what’s killing coal—economics are. According to a recent report from market research firm Lazard on the leveled cost of energy, building new renewable energy is currently cheaper than paying marginal costs for many coal plants. And innovations in fracking have dropped the cost of US natural gas far below that of coal.As the US coal fleet ages, utilities and energy companies are incentivized to replace old coal plants with natural gas plants and renewable energy.
S&P Global says that an additional 23.1GW of coal plant capacity has been announced to be retired between 2019 and 2024, for a total of 71.9GW of retirements or planned retirements between 2014 and 2024. "The analysis shows about 245.6GW of current operating coal plant capacity in the US," S&P Global wrote.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/11/coal-plant-closures-double-in-2018-coal-production-flat-or-down/
Article also covers coal production, which was down for 2018. Must be time for some new subsidies or something. Tariffs, maybe?