Benchmarks

Higher natural gas prices could be a boon for new development.

In the fall of 2001, Platts Research & Consulting (PR&C)/RDI's New Coal-Fired Generation: The Race Is On study projected the addition of approximately 11,000 MW of new coal-fired capacity in the United States by 2015. However, the latest projections from the RDI Outlook for Power Research Service, a service of PR&C, paint a brighter picture. According to revised estimates, PR&C's projection for coal capacity development has doubled-to just over 22,000 MW by 2014. What's contributing to coal's brighter outlook?

The RDI models nearly 280,000 MW of new generating capacity that will be required between 2002 and 2014, with a more intense need for peaking capacity in the early years of the forecast period. New gas combustion turbine units make up 30 percent to 50 percent of the annual capacity additions in 2002 and 2003. This number falls dramatically as the demand for electricity continues to grow and a distinct need for baseload capacity emerges in the marketplace.