US Natural Gas-Fired Combined-Cycle Capacity Outstrips Coal

US natural gas-fired combined-cycle capacity (NGCC) surpassed coal-fired capacity for the first time in 2018, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported late April 10.

While overall gas-fired generation capacity outstripped coal in the US more than 15 years ago, NGCC capacity performed the same trick last year. NGCC capacity totalled 264 GW at the end of the year; coal-fired capacity sat at 243 GW.

Combined cycle plants are more efficient and less expensive to run than straightforward gas-fired plants because they capture waste heat from gas turbines to re-use it to generate greater amounts of electricity. Natural gas-fired combustion and steam turbines are typically used only during periods of peak demand.

NGCC plants accounted for about half of all US natural gas-fired generating capacity in 2018, but provided almost 90% of total gas-fired generation, the EIA reports.

Around 40 GW of coal-fired capacity has been retired since 2015. No new coal capacity has come online in the United States. NGCC net capacity has grown by about 30 GW over the same period.

NGCC output outstripped coal in December 2015, and again in the first half of 2016, during times of relatively low natural gas prices. Higher natural gas prices reversed the crossover until February 2018, when NGCC generation again surpassed coal generation.

“As more NGCC plants continue to come online and coal plants continue to retire, NGCC-powered electricity generation should consistently rank as the most prevalent source of electricity generation in the United States for the foreseeable future, based on projections in EIA’s most recent Annual Energy Outlook,” the EIA sums up.