U.S. Gas-Fired Plants Prep for First-Quarter Maintenance Amid Uncertain Outlook

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--As global fuel shortages roil the energy markets, consumers of natural gas are catching a break. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) slashed its estimates for U.S. natural gas prices in the first quarter of 2022, after storage injections in late 2021 exceeded most analysts' expectations. But with countless uncertainties looming, including the surge of the COVID-19 omicron variant, gas plant owners are trying to keep their facilities in the best shape to address any swings in demand. Industrial Info is tracking more than 100 maintenance-related projects at natural gas-fired power plants across the U.S. that are set to kick off in first-quarter 2022.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing maintenance projects at U.S. gas-fired power plants that are set to begin from January through March, by parent company.

Southern Company (NYSE:SO) (Atlanta, Georgia), LS Power Group (New York, New York) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) (Knoxville, Tennessee) each account for five maintenance-related projects this quarter, the highest number for any parent company. Three of the TVA's projects are at facilities in Mississippi: Unit 2 at the Caledonia Generating Station in Steens, which generates 278 megawatts (MW) from a natural gas-fired, combined-cycle (NGCC) setup; units 1, 2 and 3 at the Southaven Generating Station in Southaven, which generate a total of 801 MW from a NGCC setup; and an NGCC block at the Ackerman Generating Station in Ackerman, which generates 734 MW. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can read detailed reports on the Caledonia, Southaven and Ackerman projects.

All eyes are on the TVA as cold weather begins to hit the U.S. South. In addition to its maintenance projects, the TVA has been investing carefully in its generation upgrades and transmission systems, which proved beneficial to its customers in February 2021, when an unexpectedly severe cold front shocked millions of residents across Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Mississippi, spurring blackouts and shuttering businesses for days. Despite the brutal conditions, the TVA's service area in northern and eastern Mississippi reported only one weather-related outage, which was restored in less than an hour.

Southern Company subsidiary Mississippi Power Company also is preparing for an NGCC outage on Power Block 3 at its Victor J Daniel Jr. Power Station in Moss Point, Mississippi, which generates 533 MW, while a neighboring subsidiary, Alabama Power Company, is preparing for an NGCC outage on Unit 6 at its James M. Barry Power Station in Bucks, Alabama, which generates 531 MW. Alabama Power Company also expects to begin maintenance on units 5 and 9 at its Greene County Steam Plant in Forkland, Alabama, which are combustion turbines that each generate 80 MW. Subscribers can read detailed reports on the Victor Daniel, James Barry and Greene County projects.

LS Power is gearing up for a pair of outages in one of the busiest places for natural gas development: Pennsylvania, much of which sits atop the Marcellus and Utica shale plays. Subsidiary Helix Generation LLC is set to begin a 24-day outage on Unit 1 at its Ironwood Power Station in Lebanon, while another subsidiary, Armstrong Power LLC, is set to perform maintenance on units 1 through 4 at its Armstrong Power Plant in Shelocta. The NGCC unit at Ironwood generates 700 MW, while the four simple-cycle Armstrong units generate a total of 624 MW. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's reports on the Ironwood and Armstrong projects.

Pennsylvania's marketed natural gas production, primarily from the Marcellus, reached a record 7.1 trillion cubic feet in 2020, and the state is the nation's second-largest natural gas producer after Texas, according to the EIA.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI database can click here for a full list of maintenance-related projects at U.S. gas-fired power plants set to begin before the end of March.

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.