Gas-fired thermal power plants (TPPs) placed second (5.7 GW) in terms of new generating capacities brought on stream. The largest among the new facilities were the 1.8 GW Guernsey TPP in Ohio and the 1.2 GW CPV Three Rivers Energy Center project in Illinois. The launch of these and a few other power plants has caused an increase in gas-fired power generation, which reached 9.7% in the first half of 2023, or 66.2 terawatt-hours (TWh) in absolute terms, which is commensurate with annual energy consumption in Switzerland. Production growth was also aided by a decrease in gas prices, which made the feedstock more affordable for the operators of gas-fired TPPs. The average price of gas at the Henry Hub, a key U.S. trading hub, went from $216 per 1,000 cubic meters in the first half of 2022 to a mere $86 per 1,000 cubic metres in the same period of 2023.
Important contributions to the overall increase in generating capacity were also made by wind farms (3.2 GW) and energy storage systems (1.8 GW). As part of the largest energy storage project, the capacity of accumulator batteries at the California-based Moss Landing power plant was almost doubled (from 400 megawatts to 750 megawatts). As a result, this facility has become the largest among the energy storage units operating in the United States today.
The statistics for the first half of the year do not include the third power unit of the Vogtle nuclear power plant (NPP), which has a net capacity of 1.1 GW and was put into commercial operation in July 2023. In addition to putting new capacities into operation, industry players continued to decommission outdated power generators. A total of 8.2 GW of power plants were decommissioned in the first half of this year. By the year’s end, this indicator will reach 15.3 GW, including 9.8 GW of coal-fired TPPs, which is equivalent to 5% of the capacity of coal-fired power plants that operated across the country in early 2023.
Changes in the balance of capacities have reshaped the country’s energy mix. Whereas the share of gas in the overall energy mix was 36% in the first half of 2022, it rose to 40% in the same period of 2023. The share of coal dropped from 20% to 15%, with NPPs retaining their share of 19% and renewables going up from 24% to 25%. Finally, the share of power plants running on fuel oil and petroleum coke amounted to 1%, just like in the previous year.
