Electric utility Exelon Corporation (EXC) announced that its unit Exelon Generation will expand its natural gas based power generation capacity by 2000 MW. Exelon Generation plans to add two natural gas plants in Texas.
Per the plan, the company will build two combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) units in Texas utilizing a new General Electric Company (GE) technology. The units will be come up at Exelon’s existing generation sites — one at Colorado Bend Generating Station, currently a 498 MW natural gas plant in Wharton County, TX; and the other at the 704 MW Wolf Hollow natural gas plant in Granbury, TX.
Exelon is one of the largest utility operators in the U.S. serving a large base of electricity and natural gas customers. More than 50% of the generation units of the company are nuclear based. Despite following all safety norms nuclear plants run the risk of catastrophic events.
Moreover, regulations related to carbon emissions are becoming more and more stringent. Earlier this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a new plan to curb pollution from domestic power plants. The objective is to reduce emissions by 30% by 2030 from 2005 levels. If this proposal goes into effect, electric utilities relying primarily on coal and without adequate retrofit to scale down the carbon footprint will be the worst affected.
The construction of Exelon’s nat gas units will begin in 2015 and the facilities are expected to come into service in 2017. The combined cycle nat gas plants will boost the company’s green power generation and make it more regulatory compliant.
In addition to Exelon, other utility operators are also working towards lowering their carbon footprint. NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) has recently tied up with Green Mountain Power Corporation to promote the use of renewables (read: NRG Energy, Green Mountain Power Promote Renewables). Dominion Resources, Inc. (D) has also inked a contract with EDF Renewable Energy to acquire two solar energy projects (read: Dominion Resources to Acquire 2 Californian Solar Farms).
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