Additions to generating capacity 1978--1987 for the contiguous United States: as projected by the Regional Electric Reliability Councils in their April 1, 1978 long-range coordinated planning reports to the Department of Energy

Technical Report · Fri Sep 15 04:00:00 EDT 1978

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6468947· OSTI ID:6468947

Comparison of the 1978 projections of the Reliability Councils with those made the previous year indicates three major changes in electric utility planning: (1) a reduction in total capacity additions for the 10-year planning period, (2) a significant decrease in nuclear additions, and (3) a shift from oil and gas to coal as a source of primary energy. Nuclear capacity continues to far overshadow fossil-fuel capacity in the unit-size range 1000 MW and up, with the reverse true for unit sizes less than 1000 MW. Although the total 10-year new-unit capacity drops from 326,624 MW (1977 to 1986) to 308,017 (1978 to 1987), new capacity planned that would use coal as a primary energy source increases from 136,763 MW to 146,206 MW. Nuclear capacity, in terms of total new units projected for the two 10-year periods, decreases from 130,532 MW to 116,177 MW, and capacity with oil as the primary source drops from 32,837 MW to 21,072 MW. For 1977 to 1986, no capacity was planned with oil as a primary source and coal as an alternate fuel but for 1978 to 1987, 1220 MW of such capacity is projected. Therefore, the total new capacity projected that could use coal as a fuel (primary or alternate) is 147,426 MW. In addition, one 700-MW unit is planned for which the primary fuel will be a blend of coal and refuse. There is a decrease in the capacity planned that would use natural gas a a primary source, from 2,089 MW in 1977 to 1986 to 502 MW in 1978 to 1987.

• Research Organization: Department of Energy, Washington, DC (USA). Economic Regulatory Administration
• OSTI ID: 6468947
• Report Number(s): DOE/ERA-0020
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
296001* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Electric Power Generation-- (-1989)
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
COAL
COMBINED CYCLES
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
ENERGY SOURCES
EVALUATION
FLUIDS
FORECASTING
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUEL SUBSTITUTION
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
NATURAL GAS
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
PLANNING
POWER GENERATION
POWER PLANTS
PUBLIC UTILITIES
REGIONAL ANALYSIS
SOLID WASTES
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
THERMODYNAMIC CYCLES
USA
WASTES