GE to Close Gas Plant 20 Years Early as Renewables Penetrate CA Power Grid

摘要

A 10-year-old GE gas-fired plant is being shuttered at the end of this year because its combined-cycle turbines can no longer compete within a California power market favoring carbon-free renewables.But is the facility closing 20 years early a harbinger of the future,or a one-off? The latter,according to GE,which said that plant's turbine technology was out of step with the state's fast-changing power grid.“We have made the decision to shut down operation of the Inland Empire Power Plant,which has been operating below capacity for several years,” a GE spokesman told Energy Intelligence.“Inland Empire is powered by a legacy gas turbine technology that is the only 60 hertz version of its kind globally and is uneconomical to support further.”