United States closing in on 8.6 GW of new natural gas capacity additions for 2023
According to the latest Monthly Electric Generator Inventory from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the country will likely deploy 8.6 GW of new capacity from natural gas-fired power plants by the end of the year.
With both combined-cycle gas turbine and simple-cycle gas turbine plants on the docket, the results will far surpass last year’s additions, which clocked in at 5.6 GW overall. Last year brought 11 new power plants to the fold, while this year has already rendered 10, with another six likely to flesh things out. Still, both years were an improvement – they presented increases after three consecutive years of declines.
That trend is likely to continue over the following two years, with 20 new natural gas-fired power plants expected to enter service in 2024 and 2025, bringing with them a total capacity of 7.7 GW.
Approximately 5.8 GW of the CCGT side of things from 2022 and 2023 were owed to Florida and Michigan. Both states already produce electricity driven primarily by natural gas-fired power plants. Nationwide, CCGT offerings should present a combined new capacity of 12.4 GW over 2022 and 2023, thanks to 13 plants.
On the other hand, 14 SCGT plants with a total capacity of 1.9 GW will likely enter service over the same period. Although much lower in outright capacity offerings, these sorts of plants can more quickly ramp operations in response to sudden shifts in demand or output from intermittent renewable energy resources stumbles. Most of these deployments came from Texas, where the electric grid has struggled significantly in recent years.
