U.S. Developers Re-use Coal-Fired Infrastructure for New Power

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Written by Eric Funderburk for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

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Summary

Developers have implemented solar and battery facilities at retired coal-fired plants to take advantage of existing infrastructure and grid connections.

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Existing Connections

U.S. coal-fired power is getting a bit of a life extension in a very supportive second Trump administration, with eased regulatory and emissions policies and a few "stay open" orders at coal-fired plants slated for retirement. While some of those plants may, in fact, stay open longer, that didn't stop a bevy of U.S. coal-fired plant retirements in years past.

Some plant developers have made the most of this existing, dormant infrastructure by placing solar or battery energy storage systems (BESS) at the sites. In addition, nuclear power is now entering the picture.

Successful Projects

Solar and BESS installations at former coal-fired sites gained ground a few years ago as the technologies became less expensive and more accessible, and some of these projects already have been completed.

One successful example comes from Vistra Energy, which built a 44-megawatt (MW) and 2-MW solar array at the retired Coffeen coal-fired power station in Coffeen, Illinois, which stopped operating in 2019. As is typical, the renewable energy replaces only a fraction of the retired capacity, which was more than 1,000 MW. However, the solar and BESS facilities were able to take advantage of the site's transmission connection to the MISO grid, marking a successful repurposing of the retired infrastructure.

Readers can access details of the project, including construction timelines, key contact details, and equipment and service needs, by clicking here.

An even larger project was completed just prior to that at the site of the retired San Juan Generating Station, where D.E. Shaw Renewables Incorporated (DESRI) completed a 200-MW solar facility and a 100-MW/400-megawatt-hour (MWh) BESS unit in 2024. Again, the coal-fired plant's infrastructure was a key part of the new facility's grid connection.

DESRI is moving forward with other solar and BESS projects in the immediate San Juan area, including the Foxtail Flats development, which would include 170 MW of solar power and 80 MW/320 MWh of BESS capacity, as well as the Four Mile Mesa facility with even more solar and BESS capacity.

AES Indiana successfully added BESS and solar capacity in two separate projects at the Petersburg Generation Station, which differs from the other plants in that only two of the four coal-fired units have been retired, with units 3 and 4 being converted to burn natural gas, which is expected to take effect later this year.

Ongoing & Future Projects

Other companies continue taking advantage of existing coal-related infrastructure. Duke Energy is adding 167 MW of new BESS capacity at the retired Allen Steam Station in Belmont, North Carolina. The project is expected to wrap up next year.

Similarly to the AES, two coal-fired units have been converted to natural gas at the Naughton Power Station in Kemmerer, Wyoming. TerraPower is building its 345-MW Natrium advanced nuclear reactor near the site to leverage existing facility infrastructure. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a construction permit for the reactor in March this year, and work is expected to be well underway next year, putting the reactor on track for completion by around 2031.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) also has commissioned studies related to potential small modular reactor (SMR) construction at coal sites, but its SMR project that is furthest along, Clinch River, doesn't fit this category.

Key Takeaways

• Previous projects have successfully leveraged retired coal-fired infrastructure for power from new solar and BESS facilities.
• Existing transmission infrastructure and grid connections provide can cut costs and permitting times for new forms of energy.

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