Focus on the USA |
initiative. The project aims to enhance the long-term reliability and affordability of coal fired generation in rural Ohio, while also ensuring environmental compliance. The project includes a comprehensive suite of refurbishments, each selected for its impact on grid reliability, and is structured to deliver rapid, high-value improvements, with many of the improvements demonstrating paybacks in under two years and strong positive net present values.
Unit 1 (590 MW) will undergo turbine rotor replacement, generator refurbishment, boiler component replacement, selective catalytic reduction catalyst replacement, and flue gas desulphurisation equipment refurbishment. Unit 2 (also 590 MW) will also benefit from turbine rotor replacement, boiler refurbishment, SCR catalyst replacements, and FGD refurbishment.
● Belews Creek coal reliability assurance initiative. Duke Energy Carolinas (Sauratown Township, North Carolina). Funding: DOE $34 000 000; non-DOE $65 827 232; total $99 827 232.
The coal reliability assurance (CRA) initiative consists of a suite of eighteen individual projects to reduce operation risk and improve the reliability of Duke Energy Carolina’s Belews Creek coal fired units in the rural and remote area of Stokes County, North Carolina. They are 1100 MW supercritical units and consistently rank as among the most efficient coal facilities in the USA.
The Belews Creek CRA initiative will see replacement of components related to the boiler (tubes, burners, nozzles, and valves), turbine/generator (exciter, valves, and turbine components), and balance of plant (fans, control systems, liners, hoppers, ducts, and other components).
By replacing end of life boiler, turbine, fan, and balance of plant components, the initiative aims to enhance station reliability, reduce forced outages, and support continued dependable service from this critical asset for several years to come.
● Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) at Ghent coal fired generating station. Kentucky Utilities Corporation (Ghent, Kentucky). Funding: DOE $35 000 000; non-DOE $152 300 000; total $187 300 000.
Kentucky Utilities Company will install SCR at Ghent unit 2. The project was approved in 2025 by the Kentucky Public Service Commission. The SCR system, expected to be in operation in 2028, will be capable of reducing NOx
ammonia slip. Without these NOx
West Virginia). Funding: DOE $4 273 703; non- DOE $4 273 704; total $8 547 407. Monongahela Power Company (Mon Power), wholly owned subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp, owns and operates Fort Martin power station, a regulated, coal fired power plant located in Maidsville, West Virginia. It is a two-unit plant with a combined output of 1098 MW. The Fort Martin coal handling optimisation project will include replacement of a rotary-type coal crusher, installed when the station was built, in 1967, with a modern “cone-type” crusher and installation of an additional crusher as a redundant spare. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2028.
● Kyger Creek station modernization and resiliency project. Ohio Valley Electric Corporation (Cheshire, Ohio). Funding: DOE $33 133 500; non-DOE $40 496 500; total $73 630 000.
Ohio Valley Electric Corporation (OVEC) is undertaking a series of critical infrastructure improvements at its Kyger Creek station in Cheshire, Ohio, designed to strengthen grid reliability, improve operational resilience, and help ensure the region’s energy needs continue to be met dependably. Kyger Creek station, comprised of five coal fired generating units with a total gross capacity of 1085 MW, operates as a full member of the PJM Interconnection, providing wholesale base-load power to the regional grid. The planned improvements span: electrical infrastructure (replacement of critical transformers to restore the original design redundancy, reducing unexpected outage risk and improving operational reliability); emissions control systems (replacement of key components in the facility’s electrostatic precipitators and flue gas desulphurisation systems to improve reliability); control system modernisation (upgrade of digital control systems); and mechanical equipment (including replacement of ageing mechanical components). The improvements will “help ensure that Kyger Creek can continue to contribute to grid stability and energy security.”
by at least 90%, with 2 ppm of reduction measures, Ghent
unit 2 would be at risk of future operational restrictions that could materially limit its availability during periods of increasing system demand. As a major dispatchable baseload resource in the generation fleet, any reduction in the unit’s available capacity could negatively affect system reliability.
● Fort Martin coal handling optimization. Monongahela Power Company (Maidsville,
Design and engineering projects And there’s more. On 10 June the US Department of Energy’s Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office (HGEO) announced funding of $3.6 million for nine “design and engineering” projects that will aim to eventually support the refurbishment or retrofit of existing coal power plants with “transformational technologies” that address wastewater systems and improve the efficiency, reliability, flexibility, and performance of coal and natural gas use.
HGEO says these efforts will help to advance President Trump’s Executive Orders Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry and Strengthening the Reliability and Security of the United States Electric Grid, restoring “common-sense energy policies that prioritise dependable power, affordability, and American workers.”
12 | July/August 2026 |
www.modernpowersystems.com
“America’s coal fleet is an undeniable pillar of our energy dominance and economic strength, but for too long, policies have undermined this vital industry and the dedicated workforce behind it, threatening our grid’s stability and driving up costs for everyday Americans,” says Curt Coccodrilli, acting assistant secretary of HGEO. With these HGEO project investments “we are decisively moving to champion our existing coal plants, ensuring they continue to deliver affordable, reliable power, keep the lights on, and fuel America’s progress for generations to come.” HGEO says the projects have been selected under three topic areas to “provide a path forward to rapidly and cost-effectively restore the stability of the nation’s bulk power system while also finding beneficial uses for wastes generated by coal-based energy production.”
The projects will be executed in three phases, with design and engineering completed in Phase I, final engineering and detailed design completed in Phase II, and technology implementation and validation completed in Phase III. Selectees to
receive Phase I funding include: ● Baker Hughes Energy Transition (Houston, Texas), Heartland Water Technology (Murfreesboro, Tennessee), University of Kentucky Research Foundation (Lexington, Kentucky), and University of Wyoming (Laramie, Wyoming) will examine innovative systems to treat and manage wastewater from coal fired power plants to reduce operational costs, increase water reuse, and enhance commercial byproduct recovery.
● Hallador Power Company (Terre Haute, Indiana) will advance engineering, design, and implementation for a natural gas dual-firing retrofit, which will allow power plants to switch between coal or natural gas based on cost or availability.
● East Kentucky Power Cooperative (Winchester, Kentucky), Hallador Power Company (Terre Haute, Indiana), The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois (Champaign, Illinois), and Zolo Carbon Smartech (Louisville, Colorado) will develop and test “transformational” boiler systems that will enable plants to simultaneously co-fire natural gas and coal, for improved operational flexibility.
DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, under the purview of HGEO, will manage the selected projects.
Preventing premature shut down of coal plants
The Trump administration has also been very active preventing what it sees as the premature shutdown of coal fired power plants, including by emergency orders, around twenty of which have been issued by Energy Secretary Chris Wright. The administration estimates that in 2025 it saved more than 17 GW of coal-powered electricity generating capacity by preventing its premature shutdown. The administration also notes that after President Trump assumed office in January 2025 and “began reversing the war on American coal”, more than 15 coal plants “voluntarily reversed plans to prematurely shutdown.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75
