Posted on 04/11/2015 9:59:23 AM PDT by thackney
Ohio's energy mix is about to change, the Cleveland Plain Dealer points out, with six gas-fired plants on the drawing board and older coal-fired generation set to retire.
The accelerated retirement of many coal plants is a nationwide trend, driven by low natural gas prices and EPA pollution regulations. About 60,000 MW of coal fired generators are expected to be offline by 2020, according to the EIA, due largely to the EPA's Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), and, once it is finalized, the carbon regulations under the Clean Power Plan.
The state is also wrestling with energy efficiency standards, having frozen its programs until 2017. Analysis from Pew Charitable Trusts, however, has indicated the move could be costing the state millions of dollars.
Dive Insight: Ohio's portfolio of energy sources is about to undergo a dramatic shift. The state has no less than a half dozen gas-fired proposals under consideration, at the same time new carbon regulations are about to take older coal-fired facilities offline.
The most recent generation proposal, The Plain Dealer reports, is Swiss-owned Advanced Power's plan to construct a 750-MW facility in Carroll County. According to the newspaper, more than 4,000 MW of gas-fired facilities are expected online in the next four years.
The Carroll County Energy facility is under construction and could create about 500 construction jobs. The facility is expected online in late 2017.
Simultaneously, Ohio legislators are considering whether or not to reboot the state's energy efficiency measures. The state froze the measures through 2016, but Pew research earlier this year showed that between 2009 and 2013 Ohio attracted $1.3 billion in private clean energy investment with more than $3 billion expected in the next decade.
Coal retirements, at this stage, are largely being driven by low natural gas prices and the EPA's MATS rule, since the carbon regulations under the Clean Power Plan have yet to be finalized. The Supreme Court in March heard a challenge to the MATS rule brought by a group of states and industry groups, and appeared sharply divided after hearing the case. The EPA has indicated that the Clean Power Plan will be finalized in "mid-summer"
Key word..planned.
This must be stopped immediately! Natural gas is a greenhouse gas, it is carcinogenic and this entire approach to the energy problem is homophobic and hostile to all transgenders. Minority women and children are hit worst by this plan and the Wall Street plutocrats will make huge profits from this, unearned profits!
Bechtel to build combined-cycle power plant in Ohio
http://www.power-eng.com/articles/2015/04/bechtel-to-build-combined-cycle-power-plant-in-ohio.html
04/09/2015
Bechtel was a awarded a contract from Carroll County Energy LLC, an affiliate of Advanced Power, to build a 700-MW natural gas-fired combined-cycle generating facility in Carroll County, Ohio. Bechtel will serve as the engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) contractor for the Carroll County Energy Facility, which will utilize advanced emissions-control technology.
“This is an important project that will offer a significant stimulus for the economy of Carroll County. We look forward to continuing our collaborative working relationship with Bechtel as we move from the development phase into construction,” said Tom Spang, CEO of Advanced Power.
Bechtel has received full notice to proceed and construction is expected to begin immediately. The plant is scheduled to enter commercial operations in 2017.
breathe !
And to think, twenty five years ago it was claimed there was not enough nat gas to run the country, that we would soon be shutting down nat gas plants and burning coal.
Ten Years Later, almost fifty new plants were GOING to be built, all using Natural gas! Where were they going to get it? The enveros had shut down much of the drilling.
By 1999, the answer was independent Merchant plants that would use new found nat gas and sell their electricity to the highest bidder!
New plants were now being built! By 2001 I passed several being constructed, lots of workers rushing to complete them on time for startups.
One year later, I again passed through the same area and those plants had been abandoned. No workers, weeds everywhere, skeletons of rusting framework.
Now I’m not sure what they have in mind as I no longer keep up with it.
Just because natgas is relatively inexpensive doesn’t mean it should be used at every opportunity. Who knows what the situation will be in five, ten or twenty years from now?
Diversify the sources of energy; spread the risk. Heck, that’s risk management 101.
I have friends in Carroll County, Ohio. Lots of drilling and fracking going on. The economy of the whole area is booming.
All I know is you can get ready because it is going to get much more expensive to heat your house and turn on the lights.
Don't forget the LNG import terminals that are now trying to be export terminals.
Politically they might become unavailable, but technologically, the Nat Gas Shale fields will still be there.
Natural gas costs will increase......supply and demand
Only if we let NIMBYs and environMENTALists convice politicians to shut down our immense Natural Gas supplies.
What we SHOULD be doing is using coal for electric generation, liquified natural gas (LNG) for trucks and diesel trains, and thus close to eliminate any need for imported oil.
I can guarantee you that the cost of electricity will skyrocket compared to the coal plants that have already been paid for.
Residential/commercial peaks in winter and electrical power peaks in Summer.
Shutting down the oldest, least efficient coal plants and replacing them with combined cycles Natural Gas that are about twices as efficient is not resulting in skyrocketing electrical cost.
To shut them all down, yes, that makes no sense. But a modern Nat Gas CC is an impressive upgrade in technology.
The price of natural gas today is next to nothing.
The price of electricity will necessarily skyrocket.
Natural gas isn’t cheap normally and won’t be in the future.
I also believe, from 40 years of being a petroleum engineer, that there are some bad surprises about delivery of natural gas when we start burning it again for electricity. Massive amounts of gas can go away in a hurry this way.
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