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<blockquote data-quote="pluckem" data-source="post: 249276" data-attributes="member: 843">It is not cost of maintenance or reliability that is driving coal plants to shut down.&nbsp; I think you can look at the last 40 years and understand it is one of the most reliable forms of power and also (was) economical.It is the environmental controls that are driving the cost per Megawatt higher and higher on the coal facilities.&nbsp; Each coal unit has slight differences in coal (fuel), boiler design, water source, etc. so there isn't a &quot;one size fits all&quot; approach to the best way to handle and tackle environmental controls.&nbsp; The truth is, many current technologies are available to meet current environmental requirements and limits, and they would pencil out economically, IF you can guarantee the plant will have 20 or 30 years of operations to recoup that capital expensive.&nbsp; Capital investments need years of returns. This is where companies see the writing on the wall and have to make the hard decision to retire current units.&nbsp; These facilities are at the mercy of government regulation.&nbsp;&nbsp; As soon as you think you have the Mercury and NOx emissions handled the Clean Power Act of 2021 is passed and some magical level of CO2 capture will be needed to be in place by 2022 and no coal facility will be able to meet it.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pluckem, post: 249276, member: 843"] It is not cost of maintenance or reliability that is driving coal plants to shut down. I think you can look at the last 40 years and understand it is one of the most reliable forms of power and also (was) economical. It is the environmental controls that are driving the cost per Megawatt higher and higher on the coal facilities. Each coal unit has slight differences in coal (fuel), boiler design, water source, etc. so there isn't a "one size fits all" approach to the best way to handle and tackle environmental controls. The truth is, many current technologies are available to meet current environmental requirements and limits, and they would pencil out economically, IF you can guarantee the plant will have 20 or 30 years of operations to recoup that capital expensive. Capital investments need years of returns. This is where companies see the writing on the wall and have to make the hard decision to retire current units. These facilities are at the mercy of government regulation. As soon as you think you have the Mercury and NOx emissions handled the Clean Power Act of 2021 is passed and some magical level of CO2 capture will be needed to be in place by 2022 and no coal facility will be able to meet it. [/QUOTE]

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