Vistra Expands Role Across Multiple Power-Generation Sources

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Vistra Corporation (NYSE:VST) (Irving, Texas) is preparing for a slate of projects this year that will affect its role in renewable, fossil-fuel and nuclear generation. The company completed its acquisition of Energy Harbor, which operates the second-largest non-regulated nuclear fleet in the U.S., and it expects to see a long-term acceleration in load growth in most of its service areas. Industrial Info is tracking more than $5.3 billion worth of active and planned projects from Vistra, more than 60% of which is attributed to either natural gas or solar generation.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Vistra's active and planned projects, by fuel type.

Vistra expects capital expenditures for full-year 2024 will total about $1.17 billion, including $465 million invested in the first quarter. Among the projects set to begin construction later this year are a series of solar and battery energy-storage system (BESS) projects across Illinois, including a $136 million solar-BESS complex in Kincaid, Illinois, which is set to generate 60 megawatts (MW) and store 8 MW, using 150,000 thin-film photovoltaic (PV) panels from First Solar Incorporated (NASDAQ:FSLR) (Tempe, Arizona) and lithium-ion battery technology from LG Energy Solution (Seoul, South Korea).

At least one major two-phase project from Vistra is set to kick off later this year: the $225 million Vermillion Solar Plant in Oakwood, Illinois, which is designed to generate 100 MW from about 415,000 First Solar PV panels, and a 25-MW, $30 million BESS at the same site. The company also plans to add a 45-MW, $59 million BESS at its plant in Joppa; each of these BESS units will use technology provided by either LG Energy or Tesla Incorporated (NASDAQ:TSLA) (Austin, Texas).

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can read detailed reports on the Kincaid, Oakwood solar, Oakwood BESS and Joppa BESS projects.

Last year, Vistra started construction on a pair of BESS projects in Illinois that are set to be completed in the coming weeks: the $30 million E.D. Edwards BESS in Peoria and a $30 million BESS in Havana, which is about 30 miles southwest of Peoria. Each is expected to carry about 37 MW. Subscribers can learn more from detailed reports on the Peoria and Havana projects.

At several of its gas-fired power plants, Vistra has been performing upgrades and overhauls to improve efficiency and replace outdated equipment. The company began work last month on an $18 million revamp of Unit 1 at its Luminant Power Plant in Bellingham, Massachusetts, a natural gas-fired, combined-cycle (NGCC) power station, and expects to begin an $18 million revamp of Unit 2 before the end of the year. Each unit generates 285 MW and will see its tube sections replaced. Work on Unit 1 is expected to wrap up before the end of the month. Subscribers can learn more from detailed reports on the Unit 1 and Unit 2 projects.

In a quarterly earnings-related press release, Vistra highlighted the new capacity its latest acquisition will bring to its portfolio: "On March 1, 2024, Vistra closed on the acquisition of Energy Harbor, which added more than 4,000 MW of nuclear generation to its portfolio, along with approximately 1 million additional retail customers. Together with Vistra's existing 2,400 MW Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant, this acquisition brings Vistra's nuclear capacity to more than 6,400 MW."

Later this year, Vistra expects to perform a $22 million refueling outage on Unit 2 at the Comanche Peak plant in Glen Rose, Texas, which has a capacity of 1,197 MW. It is expected to last about 31 days. Subscribers can learn more from a detailed project report and plant profile.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of reports for active and planned projects from Vistra.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).