Coal

EIA: U.S. Coal Plant Stockpiles at Highest Level in Four Years

Stockpiles of fuel at U.S. coal-fired electric plants are at their highest levels since the start of the pandemic. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on August 5 said coal stockpiles totaled 138 million short tons at the end of May, the most since the early months of 2020 when the start of the COVID-19 pandemic lessened demand for the fuel at power generation facilities.

The EIA said most coal consumption occurs during either summer or winter, and U.S. power plants usually increase their stockpiles in the spring to prepare for summer power demand. Most coal-fired facilities typically keep at least a two-month supply of coal in reserve, what the industry calls “days of burn,” or the amount of coal on hand that can generate electricity using current stockpiles.

Having a stockpile of coal can help power plant operators deal with supply chain or other delivery issues that could impact operations.

The EIA said the decline in coal-fired power generation over the past decade had led to a drop in stockpiles, noting that “coal consumption by the electric power sector totaled 385 million tons in 2023, 43% less than in 2016.” The agency said coal stockpiles “reached 131 million tons by the end of 2023, 19% less than stockpiles at the end of 2016.”

Coal-fired power generation is having a resurgence in some parts of the world. European countries are expected to burn more coal in the winter 2024-2025 season due to higher prices for natural gas.

India is expected to add more coal-fired generation capacity as that country seeks to increase its supply of baseload electricity due to greater demand for power.

Darrell Proctor is senior editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).

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