The long-running decline of nuclear and coal electric generation in the U.S. will continue this year, according to the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration. Nuclear plants will lead the capacity slump at 5.1 GW of retirements, followed by coal at 2.7 GW.
Nuclear retirements, EIA said, should amount to “half of all total retirements in 2021 and 5% of the current operating U.S. nuclear generating capacity.” That will set a record for the most nuke retirements in one year, as the U.S. nuclear industry continues of decades-long decline.
According to EIA, Chicago-based Exelon Corp., long the largest nuclear generator in the U.S., will shut down the Dresden and Byron plants this year, both in Illinois. Byron has two Westinghouse two-loop pressurized water reactors, totaling 1300 MW of electric generating capacity. Unit 1 went into service in 1985 and unit 2 in 1987.
Dresden’s two operating units (an earlier, pioneer unit began operation in 1960 and was decommissioned in 1978) are General Electric boiling water reactors, commissioned in 1970 and 1971, with a total nameplate capacity of 1797 MW.
In addition to the Exelon planned closures, Entergy’s Indian Point 3, at 1 GW, is set to shut down this year. It joins two earlier units in New York on the Hudson River not far from New York City, which closed in 1974 and last year. The Indian Point plants, given their proximity to the city, have long been controversial.
EIA commented, “If all five reactors close as scheduled, 2021 will set a record for the most annual nuclear capacity retirements ever. The decrease of U.S. nuclear power generating capacity is a result of historically low natural gas prices, limited growth in electricity demand, and increasing competition from renewable energy.” Other nucEIAlear units could face shutdown in 2021, including Ohio-based FirstEnergy’s Davis-Besse and Perry plants, enveloped in a political bribery and construction scandal.
On the coal-fired side, EIA says scheduled retirements amount to 2.7 GW, slowing somewhat in 2021. That amounts to 1% of the capacity of the U.S. coal fleet. Over the past five years, coal plant retirements have amount to about 48 GW. According to EIA, “These retirements will come primarily from older units—the capacity-weighted average age of retiring coal units is more than 51 years old. Nearly two-thirds of the capacity retirements are located in just four states: Maryland, Florida, Connecticut, and Wisconsin. The largest coal retirement in 2021 will be at Chalk Point in Maryland, where both of its coal-fired units (670 megawatts (MW) combined) are expected to retire. The next-largest retirements will be at Big Bend (Unit ST2) in Florida, Bridgeport Station (Unit 3) in Connecticut, and Genoa in Wisconsin.”
EIA also says about 800 MW of “petroleum-fired” generating capacity and 253 MW of gas generation will shut down in 2021.
Alternatively, renewables, including wind and solar, continue to increase their market share of total generating capacity. But storing the electricity they generate remains a problem facing the electricity industry.
–Kennedy Maize