Decommissioned Coal Plants May Help Accelerate Energy Transition

If the world stays true to its green-energy and anticlimate-change agenda, coal use will inevitably die out. Several countries around the world are already taking steps to reduce their coal use in favor of cleaner forms of energy. In the United States alone, 173 coal-fired power plants in 33 states are slated to shut down by 2030 with another 55 plants scheduled to close from 2031 to 2040.

However, decommissioned coal power plants may still serve a purpose even if their days of generating power on the grid are over. Since most of these power stations are still tied to the grid, they could help accelerate the switch to renewables.

For instance, the Homer City Generating Station in Pennsylvania is linked to New York’s power grid and America’s largest regional power grid. Although the station recently shut down production, its links to the grid still remain and could be used to speed up the rollout of renewables.

Rather than build new infrastructure from the ground up, experts believe that redeveloping decommissioned coal power plants could help accelerate the deployment of low-carbon and renewable energy projects. Reusing the existing connections and links could also reduce costs and help energy providers optimize their operations.

Katie Signer, a carbon-free electricity team manager at energy research company RMI, says that using old coal power plants could allow grid operators to deploy renewable energy potentially years earlier. Observers note that repurposing old coal plants for clean energy could also result in local benefits, such as retaining jobs and tax revenue in the local community.

Communities would be much less opposed to the closure of coal plants if new green-energy projects can immediately absorb the workforce.

With the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act providing tax credits for green-energy projects built near decommissioned coal plants and mines, there is plenty of incentive to begin repurposing former coal plants for renewable energy. However, this will likely depend on how PJM Interconnection LLC, which has grids stretching from the Midwest to the mid-Atlantic, will rule on grid connections at old coal power plants.

PJM’s decision will likely affect how fast new renewable energy projects come online, where they will be built and the total cost.

Some observers say new projects should be allowed to go around PJM’s connection process because it would allow them to deploy with limited upgrades and investment.

Leveraging decommissioned coal plants could help speed up the transition to clean energy and invigorate the global fight against climate change. Could leading coal producers such as Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU) consider this approach to transitioning away from coal? Only time will tell.

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