By the start of the next decade, Ameren Missouri plans to retire three of its remaining coal-fired plants as it works to reduce carbon emissions.
In a news release Thursday, company officials said they were increasing their 2030 carbon emissions reduction target from 50 percent to 60 percent based on 2005 levels. Ameren is maintaining its interim goal of an 85 percent carbon emissions reduction by 2040. Company officials said these goals are consistent with the objectives of the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change and limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
With the retirement of the coal-fired facility, Ameren plans to add 2,800 megawatts of wind and solar generation by 2030, representing a potential investment of approximately $4.3 billion.
To maintain energy reliability and resiliency for customers after the retirement of the coal-fired energy centers, the company plans a 1,200-megawatt combined-cycle energy center to be in service by 2031.
A combined-cycle power plant uses both a gas and a steam turbine together to produce up to 50 percent more electricity from the same fuel than a traditional simple-cycle plant. Simple cycle plants are a type of natural gas power plant which operate by propelling hot gas through a turbine in order to generate electricity.
At the combined-cycle plant, the waste heat from the gas turbine is routed to the nearby steam turbine, which generates extra power.
Plans call for this dispatchable resource to be capable of using a portion of hydrogen fuels and the ability to be retrofitted for carbon capture and storage once those technologies become fully mature. Ameren officials said the term "dispatchable" means they can control, raise or lower the generation output of the plant.
The location of the planned energy center has not yet been determined. It would be the first one Ameren Missouri has built.
"We looked at all the scenarios, and we know we have to produce energy 24-7, 365 days a year," Ameren Missouri President Mark Birk said. "We feel this plan will allow us to do that while at the same time reducing greenhouse gases. Further analysis showed that with retiring that many coal facilities we still needed some additional generation. The combined plant can start up faster than a coal plant, and we can ramp it up faster, too. It also emits half the carbon of a coal plant.
"Reliability and affordability is what our customers have told use they want the most, and we feel this plan will allow us to meet those needs," Brik added.