Coal

What is expected to be the last new coal plant to come online in Germany entered commercial operation on May 30, more than a decade after it was first planned. The 1,100-MW Datteln 4 power plant, owned by Uniper and located in Datteln in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, opened despite the German government’s stated plan […]

SGRE Signs Deal for O&M on Wind Turbines. Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) has secured a long-term, 20-year contract to provide full-scope operation and maintenance (O&M) services for a 135-MW

Fresh off the announcement that the final module for Vogtle Unit 3 was placed at the nuclear expansion project in Georgia, Southern Company said on May 27 that it was setting “a long-term greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.” The announcement was made during Southern Company’s annual stockholders meeting, which […]

Despite the U.S. and Europe shuttering coal-fired power plants, coal remains a major fuel in global energy systems. In 2018, global coal demand rebounded and grew by 1.4% due to increased consumption in Asia, where coal consumption increased by 2.5%. This increased consumption was mainly from power generation, which reached an all-time high, increasing 3% […]

Wisconsin-based Alliant Energy on May 22 said it would retire the coal-fired Edgewater Generating Station in Sheboygan by year-end 2022, an announcement coming just one week after the utility said it had placed the new 730-MW West Riverside Energy Center, a natural gas-fired combined cycle plant in Beloit, into commercial operation. Alliant, which also has […]

The Texas-based company that owns a coal-fired power plant in Maryland announced it will retire the facility’s three generating units, which have been in operation for about 60 years. GenOn Holdings said Units 1, 2, and 3 at its Dickerson Generating Station will be closed due to “unfavorable economic conditions and increased costs associated with […]

Polish energy companies Enea and Energa late on May 19 announced they were ending their involvement with construction of the Ostroleka C coal-fired power plant, after new co-owner PKN Orlen said it would not be involved in the project if it utilizes coal. PKN Orlen, a Poland state-owned energy company that recently acquired Energa, said […]

Despite uncertainties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) again expects to shatter its peak demand record this summer. Factoring in changes to its generation profile, extreme weather, and low wind output, the grid operator expects energy alerts are still possible.  ERCOT’s forward-looking projections for capacity, demand, and reserves are murkier, […]

U.S. coal-fired power generation last year was at its lowest level since 1976, according to data released May 11 by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook report said energy from renewable resources could this year for the first time surpass coal-fired generation in the U.S. The agency […]

The largest coal-fired power plant in North Dakota is scheduled to close in 2022, with the Minnesota-based wholesale electric power cooperative that operates the facility saying the lost generation will be mostly replaced by wind power. Minnesota-based Great River Energy, which supplies electricity to the suburbs of Minneapolis and St. Paul, along with other parts […]