NRG announces retirement of about 1,600 MW of coal capacity in PJM

NRG Energy Inc. announced June 17 that it will retire about 1,600 MW of coal capacity in the PJM Interconnection following the results of the May capacity auction.

NRG will retire the 410 MW Indian River plant in Delaware along with the 682 MW Waukegan and 510 MW Will County plants in Illinois in June 2022, Christopher Moser, NRG's executive vice president of operations, said at the power provider's investor day.

The coal plants represent about 55% of NRG's coal capacity in PJM.

The clearing price for the majority of PJM's footprint fell to $50/MW-day in the 2022-23 capacity auction, down from $140/MW-day for the unconstrained regional transmission organization region in the 2021-22 capacity auction.

There was a reduction of 8,175 MW of coal generation from the previous auction, when accounting for resources committed to fixed resource requirement plans, according to PJM.

In a June 3 investor presentation, NRG disclosed that it cleared 2,417 MW of capacity at an average price of $71.36 in the 2022-23 auction. NRG cleared 4,619 MW in the 2021-22 capacity auction at an average price of $191.12.

The company, which operates more than 5,000 MW of net generation capacity in PJM, said it is "evaluating all options to mitigate lower capacity prices."