Solar is starting to replace the largest coal plant in the western U.S.
On Navajo land in Arizona, a coal plant and coal mine that have devastated the environment are being replaced by solarwith both enormous benefits and local drawbacks that can serve as a lesson for how the rest of the country will need to manage the transition to renewables.
In the desert near Arizonas border with Utah on the Navajo Nation, a massive solar array built in 2017 now provides power for around 18,000 Navajo homes. Nearby, construction will begin later this year on a second solar plant. And on another corner of Navajo land, the largest coal plant west of the Mississippi River is preparing to close 25 years ahead of schedule, despite some last-minute attempts to save it.
Those two [solar] plants really are the beginning of an economic transition, says Amanda Ormond, managing director of the Western Grid Group, an organization that promotes clean energy.
The coal plant, called the Navajo Generating Station, was built in the 1970s to provide power to growing populations in Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada. A nearby coal mine supplies the power plant with coal. As recently as 2014, the coal plant wasnt expected to close until 2044a date negotiated with the EPA to reduce air pollution. But reduced demand for coal, driven both by economics and climate action, means that the plant is scheduled to close in 2019 instead. The coal mine, run by Peabody Energy, will be forced to follow.
In 2016, Los Angeles, which owned a 21% share in the plant, completed a sale of its share to reduce city emissions. In 2017, the remaining owners announced that they would close the plant because coal power is no longer economically competitive. The plants largest customer, the Central Arizona Project, calculated that if it had purchased electricity from other sources in 2016, it could have saved $38.5 million.
Much more:
https://www.fastcompany.com/40577931/solar-is-starting-to-replace-the-largest-coal-plant-in-the-western-u-s?utm_source=postup&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=&position=7&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=05302018