Evergy Reaffirms Commitment to Decarbonization, Solar Buildout

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Evergy Incorporated's (NYSE:EVRG) (Kansas City, Missouri) attempts to decarbonize its power generation have moved in fits and starts, as the midcontinental energy provider's efforts to reduce its dependence on coal and bolster its use of solar have been slowed by reliability concerns. Nonetheless, Evergy announced this week it has surpassed 2,000 megawatts (MW) of retired coal generation and was seeking more opportunities for large-scale solar and wind generation. Industrial Info is tracking more than $1.1 billion in active Evergy projects.

Evergy updated its five-year capital investment plan at the end of February to $10.7 billion from 2022 through 2026. The company plans to spend more than $6 billion to modernize its grid infrastructure and improve resiliency and reliability in its transmission and distribution (T&D) business, and about $2 billion on new renewable-energy sources.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Evergy's active projects, by fuel type.

Power generation at Evergy's windfarms grew from 75 million megawatt-hours (MWh) at the end of 2020 to 90 million MWh at the beginning of 2022, according to the company, but more recently, its attention has been turning toward solar. Evergy is seeking permits for a 350-MW solar farm in Lawrence, Kansas, at the site of a coal-fired power plant it hopes to close within the next decade. The company also is considering a 350-MW, second-phase expansion. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can read detailed project reports on the proposed first phase and second phase.

Evergy's plans to decommission and dismantle its coal-fired plant in Lawrence have not always moved smoothly. The company announced in April 2021 that it would close the 448-MW plant altogether, to be replace by 700 MW of solar generation within two years, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal.

But in September, Evergy pared its ambitions and said it would instead partly run one of the plant's units with natural gas, in a concession to reliability concerns. It also backed away from its aggressive move to solar power, saying its original goals "were immature in their development," compounded by problems with inflation and the supply chain. An Evergy spokesperson told the Topeka Capital-Journal the move "does not reflect an overall change in direction or a step back." Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project report on the proposed plant closure.

"Our updated integrated resource plans, which were filed last spring, outlined our intention to add nearly 4 gigawatts of renewable generation and retire nearly 2 gigawatts of coal over the next decade," said David Campbell, the chief executive officer of Evergy, in a recent quarterly earnings-related conference call. "In 2021, nearly half of the electricity we provided to customers came from carbon-free sources, and we are on pace to reach our goal of 70% reduction in CO2 emissions from 2005 levels by 2030, with a long-term objective of net-zero carbon by 2045."

Evergy reaffirmed its commitment to solar energy in January, when the company announced it would build the $13 million Hawthorn Solar Plant in Kansas City, Missouri, near one of its coal-fired power plants. It is designed to generate 10 MW from about 22,000 monocrystalline panels. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project report.

On the T&D side, Evergy is weighing its options for a proposed, 94-mile transmission line from Burlington to Asbury, Missouri. In October, Evergy awarded the project to NextEra Energy Transmission LLC, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Incorporated (NYSE:NEE) (Juno Beach, Florida), which will construct the line and perform upgrades at the Wolf Creek Substation in Burlington and the Blackberry Substation in Asbury, if the projects are approved. Subscribers can read detailed reports on the transmission line and Wolf Creek and Blackberry upgrades.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: LinkedIn.