Reimagining Retired Thermal Power Plants as Renewable Energy Projects

Coal and diesel power are quickly being phased out of the North American ISO grids and natural gas may not be far behind. Why throw away a perfectly good point of interconnection? Take stock of what is already readily available at a typical thermal power plant which includes transmission, a substation, permitting, and a large area of otherwise unusable land, estimated at approximately 650 acres for a single coal fired power plant. In 2023 there were 184 GW of coal fired capacity still operating in the United States with an average interconnection limit of 700 MW.  That is the equivalent of about 170,000 acres of solar, which, at an average of 7 acres per MW, equates to 24 GW of solar capacity. Stand alone BESS, at an average of 0.06 acres per MW, would be even more significant.  The presentation will provide an example process, utilizing tried and true brownfield development and construction methods, to turn these brownfields green.