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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Over the next 20 years, as PacifiCorp (Portland, Oregon) pursues a net-zero future, it wants to dramatically increase its reliance on solar, wind, storage and other non-emitting resources, such as pumped storage hydro and next-generation nuclear, as well as build new transmission lines, to cost-effectively serve its two million customers across six states, according to its 2023 integrated resource plan (IRP), released March 31. It also continues plans to close or convert coal plants it owns as well as exit its share in participation plants that burn hydrocarbons.
PacifiCorp, a unit of Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated (NYSE:BRK.A) (Omaha, Nebraska), provides electricity to customers in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.
David Eskelsen, a PacifiCorp spokesperson, said it is not possible to even provide an estimated range for the costs to construct all the projects PacifiCorp wants to own, or sign power-purchase agreements (PPAs) to receive electricity from third parties, that were identified as preferred in its long-term resource plan. "The actual costs of any specific project can only be known after we issue a request for proposal (RFP), select a winning bid and sign a contract. Even then, some projects we select could drop out," he said in an interview. The company's selected resource mix must be approved by regulatory panels in the six states where it operates.
Industrial Info is tracking about 39 capital projects involving PacifiCorp that have a total investment value of approximately $15.6 billion. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can click here for the list of project reports.
Over the next two decades, the PacifiCorp IRP set out a preferred energy mix that includes sharp increases in the company's use of solar and wind generation, pumped storage hydro, energy storage and next-generation nuclear. A large expansion of the company's transmission network also is contemplated. Coal-fired generation, by contrast, will continue to be phased out.
Here's a summary of how PacifiCorp wants to change its energy resource mix to 2042.
Solar
The 2023 IRP preferred portfolio includes 3,993 megawatts (MW) of solar by the end of 2025, more than 6,200 MW by the end of 2027, and more than 7,800 MW of new solar by the end of 2031. Those sums include solar resources coming online stemming from the company's 2020 all-source RFP. PacifiCorp's use of solar power is expected to increase throughout the 2030s.
Wind
The 2023 IRP contemplates the addition of about 2,300 MW of new wind generation by the end of 2028. That will be added to the roughly 2,131 MW of wind that is expected to come online from the previous RFP, issued in 2020. The company expects to escalate its reliance on wind power in the 2030s.
Storage
The use of energy storage is expected to rise sharply over the 2023-2029 period, resulting in more than 3,900 MW of new energy storage by the end of 2025 and nearly 7,600 MW by the end of 2028. Nearly all that storage capacity is expected to be lithium-ion batteries. The chart also shows storage resources being pursued from the prior RFP. Nearly all the storage from both IRPs is expected to be collocated with renewable resources or is paired with solar resources, the company said.
Non-Emitting Resources
PacifiCorp's 2023 IRP also includes new advanced nuclear and non-emitting peaking resources, such as pumped storage hydro, as part of its "least-cost, least-risk preferred portfolio." The company expects to receive about 500 MW of capacity from the yet-to-be-permitted advanced nuclear Natrium demonstration project, scheduled to be built in Kemmerer, Wyoming, on the site of a to-be-shuttered PacifiCorp coal-fired power plant. Natrium's owners expect to submit a construction permit to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) (Rockville, Maryland) sometime this year. It further expects to submit an operating license to that agency in 2026. TerraPower, the developer of the Natrium project, believes the plant will be operating by 2030. Subscribers can click here for the project report.
The PacifiCorp preferred plan also includes an additional 1,000 MW of advanced nuclear by the end of 2032. About 606 MW of other non-emitting peaking resources, mostly pumped storage hydro, are expected to be operating by the end of 2029. An additional 634 MW of non-emitting resources is expected to come online by yearend 2036. The company noted that "the advancement of these new technologies are critical to the planned transition of PacifiCorp's coal fleet."
"The advanced nuclear resources that appear in the plan represent a promising future for our employees and communities in rural Utah and Wyoming," Rick Link, senior vice president of resource planning, procurement and optimization at PacifiCorp, said in a statement March 31 accompanying the IRP. "As we transition to a net-zero energy future, it is important to leverage the experience, skills and dedication of the communities that have supplied our energy needs for the past century."
Transmission
In order to facilitate the delivery of new renewable energy resources to PacifiCorp customers across its six-state service area, the company, already the largest grid operator in the West, wants to make significant meaningful investments in transmission over the next two decades.
The 2023 IRP includes over two dozen transmission projects. Some of the most significant projects in the company's 2023 preferred portfolio include:
Coal and Gas Unit Generation
In its 2023 IRP, PacifiCorp said its transmission assets have enabled it to reduce fuel costs, operating costs and power-plant emissions and instead purchase "increasingly low-cost, zero-emissions renewable energy from market participants across the West." As the company seeks to expand its transmission network over the next two decades, that trend is expected to grow, which means PacifiCorp expects to continue retiring its coal- and gas-fired units as well as exit some of the coal-fired power plants where it has an ownership stake.
"Driven in part by ongoing cost pressures on existing coal-fired facilities and dropping costs for new resource alternatives," the company wrote in its March 31 IRP, "of the 22 coal units currently serving PacifiCorp customers, the preferred portfolio includes retirement or (converting to gas) 13 units by 2030 and 20 units by year-end 2032. The final two coal units retire by 2039, or three years ahead of the end of the planning period, with the path to decarbonization supported by new non-emitting technologies."
Here are some of the nearer-term coal unit exits, retirements and gas conversions under the preferred portfolio:
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
PacifiCorp, a unit of Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated (NYSE:BRK.A) (Omaha, Nebraska), provides electricity to customers in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.
David Eskelsen, a PacifiCorp spokesperson, said it is not possible to even provide an estimated range for the costs to construct all the projects PacifiCorp wants to own, or sign power-purchase agreements (PPAs) to receive electricity from third parties, that were identified as preferred in its long-term resource plan. "The actual costs of any specific project can only be known after we issue a request for proposal (RFP), select a winning bid and sign a contract. Even then, some projects we select could drop out," he said in an interview. The company's selected resource mix must be approved by regulatory panels in the six states where it operates.
Industrial Info is tracking about 39 capital projects involving PacifiCorp that have a total investment value of approximately $15.6 billion. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can click here for the list of project reports.
Over the next two decades, the PacifiCorp IRP set out a preferred energy mix that includes sharp increases in the company's use of solar and wind generation, pumped storage hydro, energy storage and next-generation nuclear. A large expansion of the company's transmission network also is contemplated. Coal-fired generation, by contrast, will continue to be phased out.
Here's a summary of how PacifiCorp wants to change its energy resource mix to 2042.
Solar
The 2023 IRP preferred portfolio includes 3,993 megawatts (MW) of solar by the end of 2025, more than 6,200 MW by the end of 2027, and more than 7,800 MW of new solar by the end of 2031. Those sums include solar resources coming online stemming from the company's 2020 all-source RFP. PacifiCorp's use of solar power is expected to increase throughout the 2030s.
Wind
The 2023 IRP contemplates the addition of about 2,300 MW of new wind generation by the end of 2028. That will be added to the roughly 2,131 MW of wind that is expected to come online from the previous RFP, issued in 2020. The company expects to escalate its reliance on wind power in the 2030s.
Storage
The use of energy storage is expected to rise sharply over the 2023-2029 period, resulting in more than 3,900 MW of new energy storage by the end of 2025 and nearly 7,600 MW by the end of 2028. Nearly all that storage capacity is expected to be lithium-ion batteries. The chart also shows storage resources being pursued from the prior RFP. Nearly all the storage from both IRPs is expected to be collocated with renewable resources or is paired with solar resources, the company said.
Non-Emitting Resources
PacifiCorp's 2023 IRP also includes new advanced nuclear and non-emitting peaking resources, such as pumped storage hydro, as part of its "least-cost, least-risk preferred portfolio." The company expects to receive about 500 MW of capacity from the yet-to-be-permitted advanced nuclear Natrium demonstration project, scheduled to be built in Kemmerer, Wyoming, on the site of a to-be-shuttered PacifiCorp coal-fired power plant. Natrium's owners expect to submit a construction permit to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) (Rockville, Maryland) sometime this year. It further expects to submit an operating license to that agency in 2026. TerraPower, the developer of the Natrium project, believes the plant will be operating by 2030. Subscribers can click here for the project report.
The PacifiCorp preferred plan also includes an additional 1,000 MW of advanced nuclear by the end of 2032. About 606 MW of other non-emitting peaking resources, mostly pumped storage hydro, are expected to be operating by the end of 2029. An additional 634 MW of non-emitting resources is expected to come online by yearend 2036. The company noted that "the advancement of these new technologies are critical to the planned transition of PacifiCorp's coal fleet."
"The advanced nuclear resources that appear in the plan represent a promising future for our employees and communities in rural Utah and Wyoming," Rick Link, senior vice president of resource planning, procurement and optimization at PacifiCorp, said in a statement March 31 accompanying the IRP. "As we transition to a net-zero energy future, it is important to leverage the experience, skills and dedication of the communities that have supplied our energy needs for the past century."
Transmission
In order to facilitate the delivery of new renewable energy resources to PacifiCorp customers across its six-state service area, the company, already the largest grid operator in the West, wants to make significant meaningful investments in transmission over the next two decades.
The 2023 IRP includes over two dozen transmission projects. Some of the most significant projects in the company's 2023 preferred portfolio include:
- The Energy Gateway West Subsegment D.1 project, a new 59-mile, 230-kilovolt (kV) transmission line from the Shirley Basin substation in southeastern Wyoming to the Windstar substation near Glenrock, Wyoming. Both of those planned transmission lines are expected to begin operating by the end of 2024. Subscribers can click here for Energy Gateway West project reports.
- The 290-mile, 500-kV transmission line known as Boardman-to-Hemingway ("B2H"), which connects the Longhorn substation near the town of Boardman in Oregon to the Hemingway substation in Idaho. This project is expected to come online in 2026. At the Oregon end of the B2H line, additional transmission upgrades are planned to connect B2H to growing loads.
- The 200-mile, 500-kV transmission line from Anticline substation in central Wyoming to Populus substation in southeastern Idaho. This project, known as the Energy Gateway West Subsegment D.3, is expected to begin operating in 2028. Click here for a related project report.
Coal and Gas Unit Generation
In its 2023 IRP, PacifiCorp said its transmission assets have enabled it to reduce fuel costs, operating costs and power-plant emissions and instead purchase "increasingly low-cost, zero-emissions renewable energy from market participants across the West." As the company seeks to expand its transmission network over the next two decades, that trend is expected to grow, which means PacifiCorp expects to continue retiring its coal- and gas-fired units as well as exit some of the coal-fired power plants where it has an ownership stake.
"Driven in part by ongoing cost pressures on existing coal-fired facilities and dropping costs for new resource alternatives," the company wrote in its March 31 IRP, "of the 22 coal units currently serving PacifiCorp customers, the preferred portfolio includes retirement or (converting to gas) 13 units by 2030 and 20 units by year-end 2032. The final two coal units retire by 2039, or three years ahead of the end of the planning period, with the path to decarbonization supported by new non-emitting technologies."
Here are some of the nearer-term coal unit exits, retirements and gas conversions under the preferred portfolio:
- 2023: Jim Bridger Units 1-2, converted to natural gas in 2024 (same as in the 2021 IRP)
- 2025: Craig Unit 1 retirement (same as in the 2021 IRP) 2025: Colstrip Unit 3 exit (same as in the 2021 IRP)
- 2026: Naughton Units 1-2, converted to natural gas in 2026, operates through 2036 (the 2021 IRP planned to retire these units in 2025)
- 2027: Dave Johnston Units 3 retirement (same as in the 2021 IRP)
- 2027: Hayden Unit 2 retirement (same as in the 2021 IRP)
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
