More than 14,000 MW of noncoal-fired capacity is scheduled to retire by 2023, according to an SNL Energy analysis. Of upcoming noncoal retirements, more than 77% can be attributed to natural gas-fired capacity, while PJM Interconnection LLC has the largest percentage of total noncoal capacity retirements at the ISO/RTO level.
PJM has the highest capacity slated for retirement at the ISO/RTO level by 2023, with 3,999 MW, or almost 29% of total noncoal unit retirements in the U.S. More than 79% of this capacity is scheduled to be retired by year-end 2015. Natural gas and oil-fueled capacity account for all announced retirements in the region.According to a recent SNL Energy analysis on coal unit retirements, 27,143 MW of coal-fired capacity is scheduled for retirement through 2022, with almost half of the retirements in the PJM region.
California ISO has the second-highest capacity slated for retirement by 2023, with 3,550 MW, or more than 25% of noncoal operating capacity scheduled to retire in the U.S. Natural gas accounts for 3,540 MW of total capacity scheduled to be slated in CAISO.
CAISO has the largest amount of scheduled natural gas retirements by 2023 in the country, with almost 33% of all natural gas-fired unit retirements located in the region.
Natural gas-fired units have the largest percentage of noncoal retirements in the country with more than 77%, or 10,793 MW of scheduled-to-retire operating capacity. In contrast to coal retirements, a high percentage of the scheduled natural gas retirements is expected to be replaced by new gas-fired capacity at the same power plant sites. Most of the new gas-fired capacity is attributed to combined-cycle units replacing steam and gas turbine units.
Oil-fueled capacity accounts for the second-largest percentage of noncoal retirements in the country after natural gas, with almost 19%, or 2,587 MW, of total noncoal capacity to be retired by 2023.
Nuclear-powered capacity completes the list of notable noncoal fuel retirements, with 604 MW of operating capacity slated for retirement by 2015, attributable to the Vermont Yankee BWR 1 unit.
Keep reading the full report and analysis here: http://www.snl.com/InteractiveX/Article.aspx?cdid=A-27811458-12076
