Nearly one-third of the power generation resources planned to come into service in the U.S. in 2021 is located in the Electric Reliability Council Of Texas Inc. market, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis.
Overall, 63,667 MW of new resources are projected to come into service, while 10,693 MW are set to be retired, leaving a net gain of 52,974 MW. More than three-quarters of the new capacity is from solar and wind, with slightly more solar than wind, while about half of the capacity to be retired comes from three nuclear plants.
The U.S. could this fall see its first new nuclear plant in operation in more than five years if the 1,117-MW Unit 3 at the Alvin W. Vogtle Nuclear Plant under construction in Georgia can maintain its targeted in-service date in November. In March, plant developers identified additional necessary construction remediation work that they said would likely push back the projected in-service date by a month.
Project developers are Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power Co., Oglethorpe Power Corp., the Municipal Electric Authority Of Georgia and the city of Dalton, Ga.