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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Xcel Energy Incorporated (NASDAQ:XEL) (Minneapolis, Minnesota) was ahead of the game when it announced its carbon-reduction plan in December 2018, aiming for 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050, with an interim goal of an 80% reduction by 2030. The company is taking steps toward this goal with plans for its service territories in Minnesota and Colorado, and is preparing to issue requests for proposals (RFPs) for these projects as the year progresses.
In the company's latest earnings conference call with analysts, Xcel Chief Executive Officer Robert Frenzel outlined the company's energy resource plans for Minnesota and Colorado. The Minnesota plan was approved by regulators in February, and a revised plan for Colorado is expected to be approved in June. "Together, our Minnesota and Colorado resource plans will add nearly 10,000 megawatts (MW) of renewables to our system and achieve an 85% carbon reduction by 2030," said Frenzel.
Minnesota
Xcel's resource plan for Minnesota entails the buildout of renewables, retirement of coal-fired units and the conversion of a coal-fired plant to natural gas. The company is aiming for a full exit from coal in the state by 2030. Among the coal plants to be retired is the Allen S. King plant in Oak Park Heights and the 809-MW Unit 3 of the Sherburne County (Sherco) power plant in Becker. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can click here for the report on the Sherco decommissioning and dismantlement.
But Xcel isn't stopping with the plant retirements and plans to install solar and wind generation at the sites. For example, plans at the King plant call for a 591-MW solar farm on the site upon the retirement of the coal unit. Subscribers can click here for the report on the King plant solar installation and here for the wind and solar projects intended for the Sherco plant. Xcel plans to add approximately 6,000 MW of wind and solar plants in Minnesota at these and other sites.
Xcel's other renewable plans in Minnesota include the repower of the Nobles Windfarm near Reading, in the southeast corner of the state. The repower entails the replacement of all but one of the existing 134 1.5-MW turbines with 1.6 MW turbines and the remaining turbine replaced by a 4.2-MW turbine. Construction is set to be completed toward the end of this year. Subscribers can click here for the project report.
Also part of Xcel's Minnesota carbon-reduction plan is a 10-year operation extension of the 671-MW Monticello nuclear facility. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Power Plant Database can click here for the plant profile.
Colorado
Xcel's resource plan for Colorado includes the retirement of Unit 3 at its Comanche coal-fired station no later than January 31, 2031, as well as the conversion of its Pawnee coal-fired plant in Brush, about 90 miles northeast of Denver, to burn natural gas by no later than January 1, 2026. Subscribers can click here for the detailed report on the coal-to-gas conversion. "This resource plan is expected to reduce carbon by at least 85% by 2030," said Frenzel.
Colorado's Public Utilities Commission expressed some concern over Xcel's previously proposed resource plan, but Xcel believes the plan to retire the Comanche unit will address this.
Xcel intends to add approximately 4,000 MW of renewable energy in Colorado, and the company is putting in place the transmission and distribution system for these projects. "Last quarter, the Colorado Commission approved our $1.7 billion Pathway transmission project to enable access to 5,500 MW of new renewables in some of the richest wind and solar resources in the region," said Frenzel. Click here for project reports related to the Pathway transmission plan.
And Xcel is getting the ball moving on some of these planned projects. "In terms of next steps, we anticipate issuing RFPs in the second half of this year, with insight into the preferred portfolio early next year and commission decisions in the first half of 2023," said Frenzel. "We expect the recommended portfolio of generation assets will include self-build, build-own transfers as well as some power purchase agreements."
"This timeline represents a modest delay in our original plans, but provides additional time for more clarity, given the solar supply-chain considerations." An investigation by the U.S. Department of Commerce into whether solar panels assembled in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam and imported to the U.S. are circumventing duties intended to limit panel imports from China is exacerbating supply-chain worries. According to sources, more than 80% of solar panels imported into the U.S. come from these countries.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the world's leading provider of market intelligence across the upstream, midstream and downstream energy markets and all other major industrial markets. IIR's Global Market Intelligence Platform (GMI) supports our end-users across their core businesses, and helps them connect trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated project opportunities. Follow IIR on: LinkedIn.
In the company's latest earnings conference call with analysts, Xcel Chief Executive Officer Robert Frenzel outlined the company's energy resource plans for Minnesota and Colorado. The Minnesota plan was approved by regulators in February, and a revised plan for Colorado is expected to be approved in June. "Together, our Minnesota and Colorado resource plans will add nearly 10,000 megawatts (MW) of renewables to our system and achieve an 85% carbon reduction by 2030," said Frenzel.
Minnesota
Xcel's resource plan for Minnesota entails the buildout of renewables, retirement of coal-fired units and the conversion of a coal-fired plant to natural gas. The company is aiming for a full exit from coal in the state by 2030. Among the coal plants to be retired is the Allen S. King plant in Oak Park Heights and the 809-MW Unit 3 of the Sherburne County (Sherco) power plant in Becker. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can click here for the report on the Sherco decommissioning and dismantlement.
But Xcel isn't stopping with the plant retirements and plans to install solar and wind generation at the sites. For example, plans at the King plant call for a 591-MW solar farm on the site upon the retirement of the coal unit. Subscribers can click here for the report on the King plant solar installation and here for the wind and solar projects intended for the Sherco plant. Xcel plans to add approximately 6,000 MW of wind and solar plants in Minnesota at these and other sites.
Xcel's other renewable plans in Minnesota include the repower of the Nobles Windfarm near Reading, in the southeast corner of the state. The repower entails the replacement of all but one of the existing 134 1.5-MW turbines with 1.6 MW turbines and the remaining turbine replaced by a 4.2-MW turbine. Construction is set to be completed toward the end of this year. Subscribers can click here for the project report.
Also part of Xcel's Minnesota carbon-reduction plan is a 10-year operation extension of the 671-MW Monticello nuclear facility. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Power Plant Database can click here for the plant profile.
Colorado
Xcel's resource plan for Colorado includes the retirement of Unit 3 at its Comanche coal-fired station no later than January 31, 2031, as well as the conversion of its Pawnee coal-fired plant in Brush, about 90 miles northeast of Denver, to burn natural gas by no later than January 1, 2026. Subscribers can click here for the detailed report on the coal-to-gas conversion. "This resource plan is expected to reduce carbon by at least 85% by 2030," said Frenzel.
Colorado's Public Utilities Commission expressed some concern over Xcel's previously proposed resource plan, but Xcel believes the plan to retire the Comanche unit will address this.
Xcel intends to add approximately 4,000 MW of renewable energy in Colorado, and the company is putting in place the transmission and distribution system for these projects. "Last quarter, the Colorado Commission approved our $1.7 billion Pathway transmission project to enable access to 5,500 MW of new renewables in some of the richest wind and solar resources in the region," said Frenzel. Click here for project reports related to the Pathway transmission plan.
And Xcel is getting the ball moving on some of these planned projects. "In terms of next steps, we anticipate issuing RFPs in the second half of this year, with insight into the preferred portfolio early next year and commission decisions in the first half of 2023," said Frenzel. "We expect the recommended portfolio of generation assets will include self-build, build-own transfers as well as some power purchase agreements."
"This timeline represents a modest delay in our original plans, but provides additional time for more clarity, given the solar supply-chain considerations." An investigation by the U.S. Department of Commerce into whether solar panels assembled in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam and imported to the U.S. are circumventing duties intended to limit panel imports from China is exacerbating supply-chain worries. According to sources, more than 80% of solar panels imported into the U.S. come from these countries.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the world's leading provider of market intelligence across the upstream, midstream and downstream energy markets and all other major industrial markets. IIR's Global Market Intelligence Platform (GMI) supports our end-users across their core businesses, and helps them connect trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated project opportunities. Follow IIR on: LinkedIn.
