The Trump administration has announced plans to build two new coal plants in the US, one in West Virginia and one in Alaska, with over $100 million in federal funding. However, experts say the cost of building these plants, especially with carbon capture technology, could be astronomical.

Cost Concerns

According to an independent analysis, it would cost over $10 billion to construct a 1.6 gigawatt coal plant with carbon capture, like the proposed one in West Virginia. This is more than double the cost of building a natural gas plant with carbon capture and more than four times the cost of establishing new solar power.

Energy data analyst Seth Feaster said, ‘My baseline reaction is these plants will never get built.’ He added that the cost of the power from these plants would be far higher than other forms of energy, including natural gas, solar, and wind.

Reliability Issues

Existing coal plants have experienced reliability issues, with two semi-recently built coal plants, Comanche Unit 3 in Colorado and Sandy Creek in Texas, facing severe mechanical issues and outages. Comanche Unit 3 has had over 40 unplanned outages due to mechanical issues, and Sandy Creek has been idle since a major failure last year.

Despite these concerns, the Trump administration remains committed to supporting the coal industry, with the Energy Department spokesperson stating that the administration is ‘committed to stabilizing, optimizing, and growing the American coal industry while restoring coal as a cornerstone of the US energy mix.’

Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.