Independent power producer Vistra Energy and its subsidiaries Wednesday named the four coal-fired power plants to be retired to meet the requirements of the recently approved revisions to the Multi-Pollutant Standard (Mps) rule imposed by the Illinois Pollution Control Board (Ipcb).
Without this rule change, Vistra said the company’s entire downstate Illinois fleet was at risk of early retirement, Kallanish Energy reports.
The company will close the following four coal-fired power plants in Illinois: the 54-year-old, 915-megawatt Coffeen Power Plant, in Coffeen; the 43-year-old, 425 MW Duck Creek Power Plant, in Canton; the 41-year-old, 434 MW Havana Power Plant in Havana; and the 66-year-old, 294 MW Hennepin Power Plant, in Hennepin.
These retirements are required by the revised Mps rule, which regulates emissions at eight power plants operated by Vistra subsidiaries. The revised rule, which also calls for a reduction in annual mass caps for sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrous oxide (NOx), requires the company to permanently shutter 2,000 MW of capacity from the eight Mps group of plants by the end of 2019, pending approval by grid operators, Midcontinent Independent System Operator (Miso) and PJM Interconnection, and approval of the termination of certain tariffs by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
In addition, the revised rule requires adjustments of these annual caps as additional power plant units are shut down or transferred. As a result, the retirement of the four plants will further reduce annual allowable SO2 and NOx emissions in the MPS group of plants, driving total allowable emissions down by 57% and 61%, respectively, from that allowed under the former Mps rule.
While not explicitly required by the Mps, CO2 emissions will also be significantly reduced by roughly 40% relative to 2018 levels.
The decision to retire these four plants resulted from a plant-by-plant analysis that evaluated several factors in making retirement decisions, including ensuring compliance with the new emissions caps set forth in the revised Mps rule, plant economics, federal energy regulations, and MISO market rules.
This post appeared first on Kallanish Energy News.