This utility could close four coal-fired power units
David Wagman | May 20, 2019PacifiCorp said that four coal-fired units could face early retirement as alternative sources of electric power generation become more cost-effective.
The units in question, identified as being less economic to operate beyond 2022 than alternatives, are Naughton Units 1 and 2 and Jim Bridger Units 1 and 2. PacifiCorp is a majority owner and the operator of these Wyoming-located units.
PacifiCorp is a unit of Berkshire Hathaway Energy and operates as Rocky Mountain Power in Wyoming, Utah and Idaho.
The first unit at the Naughton facility came online in 1963. Its 384 MW Unit 3 was shut down in January 2019. The 192 MW Unit 1 and 256 MW Units 2 were slated for retirement by 2029.
The Jim Bridger Plant includes four units totaling 2,110 MW of capacity. The 584 MW Unit 1 and identically sized Unit 2 were completed in 1974 and 1975.
Wind power
In May, Vestas won an order from PacifiCorp to provide wind turbines for the 250 MW Ekola Flats wind project in Wyoming. The Danish company will supply its V136-4.2 MW turbines operating in a 4.3 MW mode.
The development is part of PacifiCorp's Energy Vision 2020 initiative, a $3.1 billion investment to expand wind power across its system.
Under the initiative, PacifiCorp intends to expand the wind power through repowering existing projects, adding 1,150 MW of new wind resources by the end of 2020, and building a 225 km transmission line segment in Wyoming to enable wind generation.
Vestas earlier provided equipment to repower PacifiCorp's Marengo and Marengo II wind projects in Washington State. It upgraded the site’s existing V80-1.8 MW turbines with V100-2.0 MW turbines.
PacifiCorp IRP
The resource study was conducted as part of the utility’s 2019 Integrated Resource Plan, which is still under development and anticipated to be completed in August. The IRP, which is updated every two years, identifies actions the company anticipates taking over the next 20 years to provide reliable and least-cost electricity to customers.
The study reviewed coal units that are part of PacifiCorp’s broader resource mix to determine if customers would benefit from closing a unit or combination of units earlier than currently planned. Most of the company’s coal units will reach the end of their depreciable lives at some point over the next 20 years.
The utility examined whether customers would benefit if units are retired as early as 2022 and replaced with other resources. The timing and sequencing of any actual coal unit closures will be determined by a range of factors that also include workforce and community transition considerations.
