Owners of the Four Corners coal-fired power plant are planning on scaling back operations in coming years, switching part of the plant to run only seasonally starting in the autumn of 2023.
The planned move, which was announced today, is expected to reduce carbon emissions from Four Corners by 20-25pc annually. Plant operator Arizona Public Service (APS) would run one unit of the 1,540MW plant in New Mexico from only June through October and the other year-round depending on market conditions and planned maintenance.
Four Corners' owners - APS, Navajo Transitional Energy Company (NTEC), Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), Salt River Project (SRP) and Tucson Electric Power (TEP) –- have not yet decided which plant unit will run seasonally, APS said. Scaling back operations at the plant is part of owners' plans for cutting emissions.
SRP expects to be out of the coal business at the end of 2024, when it transfers its 13pc stake in Four Corners to NTEC. That will increase NTEC's share of the plant to 20pc. PNM filed an application with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission this January to securitize any unrecovered investments associated with exiting the Four Corners power plant before the end of its economic life.
APS expects to no longer have any coal operations in 2031, when Four Corners is scheduled to be permanently closed, and TEP plans to eliminate coal from its generation portfolio by 2033. SRP plans to cut CO2 emissions by 60pc by 2035.
Units 1-3 of Four Corners closed in 2014, reducing Four Corners' generating capacity from a previous 2,040MW. The remaining units 4 and 5 have 770MW of capacity that would potentially be available during the hottest part of the year under the new operating plans.
"With seasonal operations, the plant will continue to be a critical source of reliable electricity when our customers need it most and enable a responsible transition to a cleaner energy future," Jacob Tetlow, senior vice president of operations at APS, said.
The current coal supply agreement with NTEC, the owner of Navajo mine and sole supplier for the plant, "already allows for variations in coal needs based on market conditions and plant operations, and this provision will not change with the transition to seasonal operations," APS said.
The owners of the plant anticipate procuring roughly 20-25pc less coal from NTEC's Navajo mine as they start running one of the units on a seasonal basis. The plant took 4.17mn short tons (3.78mn metric tonnes) of coal from the mine last year, according to US Energy Information Administration fuel receipts data.
By Elena Vasilyeva
