BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 10. US coal production is poised for a decrease of 16 percent in 2024, reaching 489 million short tons (MMst), followed by a further 12-percent decline in 2025 to 429 MMst, Trend reports.
According to the US Energy Information Administration Agency (EIA), this significant drop in production is primarily attributed to the agency's forecast of an 8-percent decline in US coal consumption for each year within the forecast period.
In terms of costs, the EIA expects the price of coal for US electric power generation to decrease to $2.40 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) by December 2025, down from $2.53/MMBtu in January 2024.
Despite being economically advantageous on an energy basis compared to natural gas for the majority of the months leading up to December 2025, the cost comparison shifts when considering the greater thermal efficiency of natural gas, the agency noted.
For instance, the new and efficient combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants currently being commissioned utilize approximately 65 percent of the primary energy input of a coal-fired plant to generate the same amount of power, added the EIA.