February 2, 2025 - “We are on the way to on-going reduction of electricity we generate on coal… This made the electricity more expensive, and our grid less stable… The best we could hope for in the short-term perspective is to stop the close-down of coal-fired power plants… Nobody benefited from that”, Wright emphasized in his interview to Bloomberg TV.

According to Global Energy Monitor, during the period from 2000 to 2023 161.1 GW of coal-fired power plants were decommissioned in the USA causing the decrease of the coal-fired generation share from 52% down to 16%. The radical growth of gas accessibility resulting from the shale revolution was the key driver of this process.

According to Global Energy Monitor, gas production in the USA during the period from 2000 to 2023 doubles (from 519 bcma up to 1035 bcma). Due to the surplus of feedstock, the gas prices in the US are significantly lower than in Europe. For example, the average gas price at Henry Hub, the major gas hub in Northern America, was four and half times below the price at the major European hub TTF (USD 115 vs USD 530 per 1 thou sq. m). This explains, to a great extent, why the share of gas in the US energy mix grew from 16% in 2000 up to 42% in 2023.

In the years immediately ahead, the demand for gas-fired generation will continue to grow. The reason is the development of data-centers infrastructure, which requires uninterrupted electricity source. According to the forecast of S&P Global Platts, the demand for electricity on behalf data processing centers will grow by more than 700 TW*h per annum during the period from 2023 to 2035, which is compatible with the annual electricity consumption in Germany or in France. Due to high capital intensity of nuclear power plants, the “non-public” companies will demand the construction of new gas-fired power plants, because the objective of carbon footprint reduction is not as important as for IT giants.

Hence, the coal-fired power plants will have difficulties in competing with gas-fired generation in the US markets. However, the curtsey towards coal-fired generation to a great extent symbolizes easing the restrictions for developing the traditional energy sectors.