Companies Mull Repurposing Retired Coal-Fired Plants

May 23, 2022--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In the U.S. these days, it's everywhere: reduced carbon emissions goals, that is. Major power providers such as Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) (Charlotte, North Carolina), Xcel Energy Incorporated (NASDAQ:XEL) (Minneapolis, Minnesota) and NextEra Energy Incorporated (NYSE:NEE) (Juno Beach, Florida) have net-zero carbon goals in place and have specific schedules in mind, which involve the retirement of coal-fired power plants.

Industrial Info expects about 70 gigawatts of coal-fired plant unit retirements in North America from now through 2030. While the retirement of plants is viewed positively throughout most of the Western world, is it the best idea to simply let these assets be disconnected from the grid when they are equipped with the basic infrastructure (albeit, often aging) to deliver power to millions of users throughout the U.S.?