Pennsylvania's largest solar farm will replace its largest coal plant

[Think. Again.]

Michelle Lewis, Mar 21 2024 - 9:04 am PT
Full Article: https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/pennsylvanias-largest-solar-farm-will-replace-its-largest-coal-plant/

The Mineral Basin Solar Project will be located on Homer City’s former coal mining land in Clearfield County, west of State College. It will fill a critical electricity generation gap following Pennsylvania’s largest coal plant‘s closure in July 2023.

Renewables developer Swift Current Energy (SCE) will build a utility-scale 402 MW solar farm capable of producing enough clean energy to power 75,000 homes. SCE says on Mineral Basin’s website that it’s considering adopting offsite battery energy storage for the project.

Mineral Basin will serve as a pilot for SCE, which plans to develop around 1,000 MW of solar on former coal mine sites in the Appalachian region over the next five years.

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The project expects to create more than 750 construction jobs and six operations jobs, while providing $1.1 million in annual tax revenue to townships, the county, and local school district.

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Full Article: https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/pennsylvanias-largest-solar-farm-will-replace-its-largest-coal-plant/

[GregariousGroundhog]

1. A 400 MW solar plant will replace a 2000 MW coal plant

Seems about 1600 MW short to me, not even counting the capacity factor issues.

[Think. Again.]

2. Fossil fuels are certainly much more efficient...

...at producing energy, but we now know they are starting to kill the same society they were supposed to produce power for, so out they must go.

[Blues Heron]

3. It had already been relegated to load follower status with capacity factor at 20 percent

Check this out from the link in the article -

As Homer City became less competitive economically and was dispatched for load following – that is, it adjusted its power output as demand for electricity fluctuated – rather than for baseload power, the plant generated less electricity, and its capacity factor dropped. (Baseload power plants can generate dependable power to consistently meet demand.)
The Homer City plant operated at an annual capacity factor of 82% in 2005. By 2022, the capacity factor had dropped to 20%, contributing to the decision to retire the plant, along with “the low price of natural gas, a dramatic spike in the cost of its ongoing coal supply, unseasonably warm winters, and increasingly stringent environmental regulations,” according to William Wexler, CEO of Homer City Generation, in a written statement.