Industrial Info Tracks More than $170 Million in U.S. Power Maintenance Projects Affected by COVID-19

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Industrial Info is tracking more than $170 million in U.S. power maintenance projects that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The natural gas-fired sector accounts for the majority of projects. Industrial Info previously tracked two nuclear refueling outages where work was slowed, but these have now been completed. In terms of geography, the Southwest market region, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, leads by project value, with $41.8 million in affected projects.

Click on the image at right for a breakdown by fuel type of U.S. power maintenance projects affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the largest projects canceled due to the pandemic is Southern Company (NYSE:SO) subsidiary Alabama Power Company's (Birmingham, Alabama) planned first-quarter maintenance for the 884-megawatt (MW) Unit 4 at the Ernest C. Gaston coal-fired power plant in Wilsonville, Alabama. The project was originally planned to kick off in late March and has so far not been rescheduled. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Nebraska Public Power District (Columbus, Nebraska) had originally planned to begin a 40-day maintenance outage at the 681-MW Unit 2 at the Gerald Gentleman coal-fired power station in May, but this has been pushed out to September due to COVID-19. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Industrial Info is tracking more than 40 U.S. natural gas-fired maintenance projects that have been affected by the pandemic. Among these is Calpine Corporation's (Houston, Texas) planned outage at the Guadalupe Generating Station in New Braunfels, Texas, which was originally to have taken place early in the second quarter. The project was cancelled because of the pandemic. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Among the renewable energy maintenance projects affected by the virus is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' planned maintenance for units 1-5 at the Garrison Hydropower Station near Riverdale, North Dakota. The project was originally planned to have kicked off in April and involved normal inspection and repairs to three 128-MW units and two 155-MW units. The start date of the project has been moved to the third quarter, and completion is expected by the end of the year. For more information, see Industrial info's project report.

In the wake of the pandemic, U.S. power companies may decide implementing some planned maintenance projects can be put off. While the Power Industry is showing relative resiliency compared with some other industrial sectors, power demand has dropped, at least temporarily. In April, U.S. demand had plunged to a near 17-year low, according to analysts and the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) trade group. EEI said power output fell to 64,061 gigawatt-hours during the week ended April 18. That was down 4.2% from the same week in 2019 and was the lowest in a week since May 2003. Depending on how soon the U.S. economy normalizes and if the virus grows worse could affect how power companies decide to pursue their maintenance project schedules on equipment that may not be experiencing as much as wear and tear as originally planned. In addition, maintenance projects could take longer than originally planned as limited numbers of workers are allowed on site and safety implementations slow work.

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. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.