US energy group DTE Energy has decided to retire eight coal-fired power plants at three sites in Michigan, namely the River Rouge facility, the St. Clair facility in East China Township, and the Trenton facility, by 2023. Combined, these three plants exceed 2.6 GW of capacity and generated about 1/4 of the electricity produced by DTE Energy in 2015, enough to power 900,000 average US homes. DTE Energy did not precise which units would be shut down but retiring the eight oldest (the two 251 MW and 272 MW units of the River Rouge plant commissioned in 1957-1958, four 151-156 MW units commissioned in 1953-1954 at St Clair and two 100-110 MW units commissioned in 1949-1950 at Trenton Channel would reduce its generation capacity by 1,345 MW.
The decision is part of DTE Energy's plans to renew its power generation fleet with a mix of newer, more modern and cleaner sources of energy generation such as wind, natural gas and solar. The group is investing in renewables (which now account for 10% of its total sales) and retired three coal-fired units due to age and projected future costs in early 2016.