FEATURE: Renewables a factor in gas-fired power retirements, but may help in longer run

摘要

About 83.5 GW of natural gas-fired generation has retired since 1991 – 57.7% of it since 2011. Coincident massive renewable generation growth likely reinforced the trend, but the flexibility of gas-fired capacity to fill in for intermittent renewables may help extend gas plants' viability over the next few years. About 5.6 GW of the generation retired since 2015 was relatively new – built in 1991 or thereafter, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence's power plant database.Based on US Energy Information Administration data, Gurcan Gulen, principal at G2 Energy Insights, a Boston-area energy consultancy, said 46 GW of gas-fired generation was retired between 2011 and 2020, of which more than 70% were older steam and combustion turbines, but 90 GW of new gas-fired capacity was built.