MISO has 5.9 GW of generation capacity being built with 2020 in-service dates

Almost 5.9 GW of generation is under construction in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator footprint with negotiated in-service dates before the end of 2020, a report generated July 6 shows, and that excludes 489 MW of gas-fired generation that Entergy plans to bring online in 2020.

The MISO Generation Interconnection Queue status report only includes one natural gas project, the 705-MW project under construction to connect to Northern Indiana Public Service in St. Joseph County, Indiana, which remains under construction despite having a negotiated in-service date of March 31, 2020. All of the other projects being built with 2020 in-service dates are either solar or wind-powered.

Entergy in March brought online the 994-MW Lake Charles Power Station combined-cycle gas turbine in Westlake, Louisiana. The New Orleans-based investor-owned utility also plans to bring online in 2020 a 361-MW combustion turbine in Bogalusa, Louisiana, and a 128-MW reciprocating internal combustion engine generator in New Orleans. None of these were included in the July 6 report.

All of these numbers represent summer capacity, when thermal generation typically is derated, and wind generation tends to reach its low point of the year.

The GIQ report includes 3,778 MW of wind-powered generation slated for startup in 2020, of which 2,518 MW is scheduled to be online by September 1, scattered among locations in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and South Dakota.

Of the 1,388 MW of solar power to come online, 669 MW is slated to be operational by September 1.

Aside from the Lake Charles Power Power Station, only one other generator has come online, a 48.3-MW combustion turbine did so in May.

WITHDRAWN PROJECTS

The GIQ report also includes the capacity of projects withdrawn from the generation interconnection study process, which so far in 2020 has totaled 14,660 MW, including 480 MW withdrawn in 2020, of which all were Michigan solar projects, except a 20-MW battery storage project, also in Michigan.

Broken down by type, the number and total capacity of projects withdrawn so far in 2020 are as follows:

• Solar: 6,669.7 MW
• Wind: 4,673.8 MW
• Natural gas: 3,039.8 MW
• Battery storage: 246.5 MW