According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), nearly 18 GW of installed power generation capacity was retired in the United States during 2015, including more than 80% (nearly 14%) from steam-coal capacity.
Indeed, much of the existing coal-fired power capacity in the United States was built between 1950 and 1990 (since then, installations have slowed down); with an average age of 54 years, the coal-fired units retired in 2015 were mainly commissioned before 1970 and most of them are smaller than other coal-fired units still operating (average of 133 MW, compared with 278 MW for operating units). Nearly half of the 2015 retired coal capacity was located in three states, namely Ohio, Georgia, and Kentucky, and those states each retired at least 10% of their coal capacity in 2015.
During 2015, 2.9 GW of gas-fired capacity (including 1.5 GW of steam turbines) and 963 W of oil-fired capacity were retired.
Interested in Power Plants?
Enerdata has developed a market research service to screen, monitor and analyse the development of power generation assets.
Power Plant Tracker offers an interactive database and a powerful search engine covering power plants worldwide – including both installed and planned capacities for renewables and fossil fuels.