Coal Remains Major Contributor in Meeting Future Energy Demands in Pennsylvania

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Info Resources; Houston, Texas). Roughly 43% of operational electric generating capacity is fueled by coal in the state of Pennsylvania. Throughout the state, there are 415 generating units with a total operating capacity of over 47,000 megawatts. This takes into account all fuel types that contribute to Pennsylvania’s installed base, including coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, hydroelectric, wind and others.

Operational coal-fired generating capacity in Pennsylvania is just over 20,000 megawatts produced from 73 units. At present, developers of new generating sources in Pennsylvania are following a trend that is growing across the nation and that is a movement towards adding more coal-fired capacity. In North America, Industrial Info is tracking 242 new solid fuel coal and gasified coal-fired generating units, representing over 83,000 megawatts that are in various stages of development or already in the construction stage.

In Pennsylvania, there are six projects representing over $4.5 billion that would add ten coal-fired units with a potential capacity of 2,500 megawatts. In Pennsylvania, new coal fueled units represent 21% of the total number of new units and 61% of capacity proposed.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE AT RIGHT TO SEE A TABLE OF NEW COAL-FIRED PROJECTS IN PENNSYLVANIA.

In general, the driving factor behind the increase in new coal-fired capacity is the price of natural gas. This is true in Pennsylvania as well, but there are other contributing factors. Coal is abundant in the region and is expected to play a major role for years to come in supplying future electricity demands. In addition to this there are 50 coal-fired generating units representing just over 15,000 megawatts that have been in operation for thirty or more years. In fact, nineteen of these units and 6,800 megawatts of capacity are scheduled for retirement from 2006 through 2044, and there is the potential for others to close during this period. Not only will there be a need to meet increasing demand, but capacity lost to closures will need to be replaced as well.

Coal certainly isn’t expected to shoulder the entire burden of supplying energy for the future in Pennsylvania. The generation fleet is expected to utilize a diverse array of fuel sources including natural gas, renewables, possibly nuclear generation, and yes, coal as well.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a Marketing Information Service company that has been doing business for over 23 years. IIR is respected as the leader in providing comprehensive market intelligence pertaining to the industrial processing, heavy manufacturing, and energy-related industries throughout the world.