After years of focus on natural gas for its clean-burning characteristics, low commodity cost, short construction lead-time and low capital cost, building coal-fired plants to generate electricity is back on the table. In early 200S, the National Energy Technology Laboratory counted proposals to build 114 coal-fired plants, adding 70,000 MW of new capacity. Even Calpine Corp., with its emphasis on clean generation and fleet of nearly 100 percent gas-fired units (and some geothermal), is talking about ways to add coal-fired generation to its portfolio.
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