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Nearly 13 GW of coal-fired capacity will be retired in the US in 2015

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), power generation companies will add more than 20 GW of new capacity in the United States in 2015. Half of the capacity addition will come from wind (9.8 GW), with 6.3 GW of new gas-fired capacity, 2.2 GW of solar capacity and 1.1 GW of nuclear power (Watts Bar-2 project) added during the year. Meanwhile, nearly 16 GW of power capacity, including 12.9 GW of coal-fired units, will be retired. Net capacity additions will total 4.3 GW. Nearly 3/4 of new solar capacity will be concentrated in California (1.2 GW) and North Carolina (0.4 GW), while 85% of wind additions (8.4 GW) will be located in the Plains states (North Dakota, Minnesota, Texas, New Mexico). Natural gas capacity additions will be spread throughout the country, with 1.7 GW (27% of the total) installed in Texas and 1.6 GW in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Most of this retiring coal capacity is located in the Appalachian region, with slightly more than 8 GW combined in Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and Indiana.

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