Rite of Spring: U.S. to See Over $800 Million in Planned Second-Quarter Power Outages

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Planned maintenance outages are a fact of life for power plants, where a lot of money is spent to keep the lights on, among other things. Industrial Info is tracking no less than $807.6 million in U.S. power maintenance projects scheduled for kickoff in the quarterly period that began on April 1.

Click the image at right for a graph detailing power plant outages by market region.

With 165 projects worth a combined $536.6 million, plants that use fossil fuels (coal, fuel oil and natural gas) take up the lion's share of the outage work. Only 10 nuclear plant outage projects are planned, but they are high-dollar items, ranging from $12 million to well over $20 million, for a grand total of $222 million. Those facilities using renewable sources of energy (hydro, geothermal and other) come in last, with only 12 projects worth $23.75 million. For related information, see March 15, 2016, article - U.S. Sees 10 Nuclear Plant Outages Planned for Second-Quarter 2016.

In terms of geography, the Great Lakes region is number one in outage spending, with 31 projects valued at $152 million. One of the region's pricier items is the $14 million maintenance outage at Duke Energy Corporation's (NYSE:DUK) (Charlotte, North Carolina) Washington Energy Facility in Beverly, Ohio. The 28-day outage for the 620-MW, natural-gas driven Unit 1 is slated to start in April.

In addition to Illinois, the Great Lakes market region includes Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.

The Southwest region takes second place, with 28 projects worth $102 million. Unit 1 of Energy Future Holdings Corporation's (Dallas, Texas) Comanche Peak Nuclear Generating Station in Glen Rose, Texas is scheduled for a $20 million refuel outage. The 29-day process for the 1,209-MW unit will start in April and end in May.

Also in the Lone Star State, Unit 4 of Luminant Generation Company LLC's (Dallas) coal-driven Sandow Power Station in Rockdale is scheduled for a 35-day outage this quarter. Luminant is a subsidiary of Texas Energy Future Holdings L P (Dallas). The outage at the 590-MW unit has a TIV of $8.5 million. The Southwest market region also includes Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

On the West Coast, $100 million will be spent on 19 outage projects. Chief among these is the $25 million refueling of Unit 2 of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Station, located nine miles northwest of Avila Beach, California. The 35-day project for the 1,118-MW unit is scheduled to kick off in May. The station is owned by Pacific Gas & Electric Company, part of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) (San Francisco).

Up north, a $12.5 million maintenance outage at Clark Public Utilities' (Vancouver, Washington) River Road Generating Station in Vancouver leads the fossil-fuel driven projects in the region. The natural gas-fired, 254-MW combined cycle Unit 1 will undergo four weeks of maintenance. The West Coast market region also includes Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 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/.