Hundreds of coal-fired power plants
in planning and construction
More than 400 new coal-fired power plants are in planning and construction in just two countries: China and the U.S. China will need 60 new 600 MW coal-fired plants per year just to keep up with its soaring electricity demand. These projects and many more in other countries are tracked in World Power Generation Projects, an online service of the McIlvaine Company.
The cost of a 600 MW power plant is over $700 million. With soaring power demand and rising oil and gas prices, coal-fired plants with an aggregate cost of over $1 trillion are in construction or planning worldwide.
U.S. utility operators were counting on gas turbines to provide a substantial part of the base load generating capacity. But now the price of natural gas dictates that gas turbines only be used for peaking capacity. As a result there has been an abrupt about face. Utilities which would not have considered a coal-fired plant a year or two ago are now moving forward with coal-fired projects.
The Chinese government slowed down its construction of coal-fired generators several years ago. Now there is an electricity crisis with blackouts and brownouts occurring in many areas. As a result, there is an accelerated program to build coal-fired generators. Within the next several years Chinese coal-fired capacity will equal that of the U.S. By 2020 Chinese coal-fired capacity is projected to be twice that of the U.S.
Outside the Middle East most countries will be relying on coal for at least some portion of their new generating capacity. There are a number of projects in Asia and Eastern Europe.
It takes six years to plan and build a coal-fired plant. So plants slated for 2008 start up are already well into the design phase. There are plants in Japan, Vietnam, Poland, New Zealand, and the Philippines all slated for 2008 start up. This is in addition to those which will start up in the U.S. and China.
In 2009 coal-fired plant start ups are slated for Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, and Pakistan.
For more information on World Power Generation Projects, click on:
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/energy.html#40A .
Bob McIlvaine
847-784-0012