Peabody Adds Solar, Battery Projects to its Coal-Based Slate

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) (St. Louis, Missouri) isn't letting its status as the world's largest private-sector coal company hinder its growth. The company announced this week it would join Riverstone Holdings LLC (New York, New York) and Summit Partners (Boston, Massachusetts) in forming R3 Renewables LLC, a joint venture that would develop 3.3 gigawatts (GW) of solar and 1.6 GW of battery-storage capacity over the next five years.

Industrial Info is tracking $1.1 billion worth of active projects from Peabody and nearly $7 billion worth of renewable-energy projects from Riverstone and its subsidiaries.

R3 Renewables is in its infancy, with its parent companies weighing up to six potential sites on or near previous coal-mining operations in Indiana and Illinois. "The portfolio size and strategic site locations, each of which is in close proximity to grid injection points, offer the potential for the development of the largest solar and battery storage projects in both Indiana and Illinois," Peabody said in a press release.

Peabody already has proposed a greener future for one of its largest power plants in the area with a carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project at the Prairie State Energy Campus in Marissa, Illinois. Peabody hopes to retrofit the 800-megawatt (MW) Unit 1 with an amine-based capture system, as it prepares to gradually ramp down operations at the 6 million-ton-per-year Lively Grove Thermal Coal Mine, also part of the Prairie State Energy Campus, in the coming years.

Peabody expects operations at Lively Grove will fully cease by 2035, around the same time the Prairie State power plant is expected to close its doors. These projects are in their early planning phases, where plenty of factors could delay, disrupt or alter the planned investments. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can read detailed reports on the CCS project and mine closure.

The move to clean up its output comes amid an improving environment for Peabody's legacy operations, fueled in part by less competitive prices for natural gas, which is coal's rival fossil fuel. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects U.S. coal production will increase almost 5% in 2022 and another 3% in 2023, although supply conditions are expected to remain tight through the end of the year. Much of this trend comes from the need for U.S.-based coal exports, which the EIA expects to increase 4% in 2022.

In response, Peabody plans to spruce up operations at one of its major mines. The company is considering major repairs and rebuilds on two dragline excavators at its Bear Run Thermal Coal Mine in Dugger, Indiana, as well as an expansion of the facility's preparation plant from 1,600 to 2,000 tons per hour. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's reports on the Dragline No. 1, Dragline No. 2 and preparation plant projects.

Riverstone, which calls itself "one of the world's largest private investment firms focused on energy, power, decarbonization and infrastructure," is at work on about $6.5 billion worth of solar and wind projects across the U.S. and Canada. One of its Canadian subsidiaries, Pattern Renewable Holdings Canada ULC, already has built substations and interconnection lines for its two-phase Lanfine Wind Power Generating Station near Oyen, Alberta, which is expected to generate more than 280 MW from turbines provided by Vestas Wind Systems A/S (Aarhus, Denmark). Subscribers can read detailed project reports on the 150-MW North windfarm, which began site preparation in September, and the 133-MW South windfarm.

Talen Energy Corporation (The Woodlands, Texas), another Riverstone subsidiary, is preparing to begin construction later this year on a 20-MW solar power plant in Holtwood, Pennsylvania. As with the proposed R3 Renewable projects, Talen's facility is to be built near a retired coal-fired power plant, on a now-closed ash basin. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project report.

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: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn.