Reliability, Resilience, and the Oncoming Wave of Retiring Baseload Units, Volume II-A: Case Study: Organized Markets of the Eastern Interconnection
- National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV, and Albany, OR (United States)
This study follows upon the previously published NETL reports that examined the performance of electricity generation units during the winter storm and cold weather event known as the “Bomb Cyclone” that occurred in early 2018. This study briefly explains the dynamics of the natural gas market, reviews the performance of slated and at-risk for retirement coal plants during the Bomb Cyclone, calculates the costs of serving load above “normal” conditions, and observes trends in fuel secure generation. Subsequently, the report projects near-term economic and reliability costs associated with expansion of the natural gas generation network finding that natural gas deliverability constraints lead to high fuel and electricity price spikes that are exacerbated by the continued retirements of thermal units. Conservatively, an investment of $470 million to $1.1 billion over that already entrained in the long-haul natural gas transmission system is identified to avoid even worse outcomes.
- Research Organization:
- National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV, and Albany, OR (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
- OSTI ID:
- 1600694
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/NETL-PUB-22481
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Reliability, Resilience, and the Oncoming Wave of Retiring Baseload Units, Volume II-B: Electricity Generation Supply Chain in the Northeast
Reliability, Resilience and the Oncoming Wave of Retiring Baseload Units, Volume I: The Critical Role of Thermal Units During Extreme Weather Events