Replacing Peaker Plants with Energy Storage in Nevada

Overview

In this analysis, we assess where solar and storage have the potential to replace existing Nevada peaker power plants and where their deployment may yield the greatest environmental health and equity benefits. In Nevada, five gas-fired peaker units located at four power plants help meet state peak electric demand. These plants include one stand-alone gas turbine peaker plant and four units co-located with natural gas combined cycle facilities. While these plants are all located near Nevada’s population centers in Reno and Las Vegas, two are in urban areas in Las Vegas and the other three are in more remote areas outside of the cities. The two urban facilities, Sun Peak and Clark gas turbine unit, are both located in low-income and minority communities with high cumulative environmental health burdens. Sun Peak, in particular, is used infrequently and has the shortest runtimes of any of Nevada’s units, suggesting it may be a good target for replacement with energy storage, solar, demand response, or a mixed portfolio of clean energy resources. Sun Peak also has the highest emission rates of carbon dioxide and criteria pollutants per unit of electricity generated, and operates frequently on days when local ozone concentrations exceed federal standards. Nevada has plentiful solar resources and ambitious clean energy targets, including a target of 50 percent renewable electricity by 2030, which may support the deployment of solar+storage and other resources to replace high-emitting peaker plants in vulnerable communities. Storage is currently most cost-competitive with peaker plants, but moving forward this approach can set a precedent for displacing fossil fuel power plants across the grid.

Nevada Summary: Read about our findings for energy storage peaker plant replacement opportunities.

Technical Documentation: Look up data sources, methods, and a discussion of state-level policy and regulatory considerations.

Nevada Peaker Power Plant Map: Explore and visualize peaker plant data for gas- and oil-burning power plants used statewide to meet peak electric demand, including data on operations, greenhouse gas and criteria pollutant emissions, and nearby population demographics. We include combustion turbine, steam, and internal combustion power plants as well as units at larger plants that are 5MW or larger and burn oil and gas at a low capacity factor⁠—less than 15 percent. The data do NOT include nuclear, solar, wind, hydro, biomass, coal, natural gas combined cycle, or geothermal generation.

1. Statewide Map and Demographics: Map Nevada power plants and visualize demographic data for nearby populations.
2. Cumulative Vulnerability Index: Compare plants across an index of environmental, health, and socioeconomic burden indicators for populations living nearby.
3. Individual Plant Demographic View: Search for data on populations living near an individual power plant.
4. Individual Plant Operational View: Search for an individual power plant and visualize its historic generation and emissions data.
5. Plant Indicator Ranking: Rank plants by selected environmental or demographic indicators.
6. Data Comparison View: Select, compare, and plot user-specified data sets.
7. Select, compare, and plot user-specified data sets.

1. For a deeper view of specific maps or data: Select individual tabs on multi-tab visualizations.
2. For a full-screen visualization: Click on the full-screen icon at the bottom right corner of a tab.  
3. To download images or data from an individual plot or map: Click on the download icon at the bottom right of that figure.  
4. To undo all filters: Click on the revert icon at the bottom right corner of a tab. 
5. To embed or share a link to a specific map view: Click the connections icon on the bottom right of your map results.  
6. To re-center maps: Click on the home icon, which appears when you hover in the top left corner of the map. 
7. To look up terminology: Use the Glossary page.

Explore a map of Nevada’s peaker power plants in relation to demographic indicators. Hover or click on an individual plant on the map to pull up its data. Use filters to select measures such as Plant Name or Plant Unit Type. Note that distinct peaking unit types at the same power plant (e.g. a gas turbine and a steam turbine) are shown separately, and that some plants do not show up on the demographic plot because there are no populations living nearby. Note: Certain plants with no nearby populations do not show up on plots. Example question: Which plants are located in urban, low-income or minority communities?

We developed a Cumulative Vulnerability Index to compare the socioeconomic, health, and environmental burdens on communities living near each power plant. This index is calculated by averaging the state percentiles of populations living near each plant for three health indicators, ten environmental indicators, and four demographic indicators, and then summing the scores for these three categories. If the population near a plant scored the median value on every indicator, its index score would be the reference value of 150. For full methods, see the technical documentation. Below, select a Distance from Plant of 1 or 3 miles to compare the populations living within this distance of each plant. Note that distinct peaking unit types at the same power plant (e.g. a gas turbine and a steam turbine) are shown separately. Note: Harry Allen is excluded due to no nearby populations. Example question: Which plants are located in communities with high cumulative environmental, health and socioeconomic burdens?

Look up an individual Plant Name to find the demographics of populations living near the plant. Select a Radius of 1 or 3 miles to find average data for populations living within the chosen distance from the plant. Example question: What is the total population living within one mile of a plant?

Look up an individual Plant Name to find information such as where the plant is located and the plant’s historical generation and emissions. Use the Year filter to find the average annual generation and emissions over the selected time period. Click on additional tabs to view a table or figure on its own. Example questions: How many times does a plant start per year?  How many hours does it run when it is turned on? Plant start-up periods have higher emission rates, and 3-5 hours might be a good match for energy storage.

Hover below a column and click the ranking icon to re-rank the plants by a given environmental, demographic or operational indicator value. By default, plants are ranked by capacity (size). Use filters to select the Plant Unit Type and the Distance from Plant used for analyzing population data. Note: Some data, such as generation on poor air quality days, are missing for certain plants. Example question: Which plants have the highest emission rates of nitrogen oxides (NOₓ) for every megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity generated? A MWh of an alternative resource would have the greatest emission benefits from displacing a MWh from one of these plants.

Choose which datasets to compare to create your own plot. Select X-Axis Selector and Y-Axis Selector to choose two datasets to compare. Use the Distance from Plant filter to select population in a 1- or 3-mile distance from the plant. Note: Some data, such as run times, are missing for certain plants. In this case, individual plants without data will not show up under search bar. Example question: Which plants are old and have low capacity factors? These might be good candidates for replacement.   

Contact Us

To ask questions, make comments, report any errors in the data, or request a walk-through of the data visualizations, please contact Elena Krieger at: krieger@psehealthyenergy.org. These data are accurate to the best of our knowledge, but there are sometimes discrepancies in data aggregated from multiple sources and there may be errors in the compilation. We would appreciate your input if you notice any anomalies or inaccuracies to help us improve these visualizations. We are also eager to help you navigate and use the tool, so please reach out if we can help you use the tool to answer any specific questions!