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MidAmerican plans investments in solar and natural gas in Iowa

  • 30 days ago (2024-11-05)
  • David Flin
Distribution 123 Gas 394 North America 1022 Solar 274

MidAmerican Energy of Iowa, USA, has said it expects to invest heavily in solar energy, natural gas-fired power plants, and an SMR facility over the next two decades to meet increasing demand, partly driven by the growing data centre industry.

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MidAmerican plans to add 6890 MW of generation and 155 MW of storage. The increased generation would be in addition to the utility’s $3.9 billion plan for 2042 MW of wind power and 50 MW of solar energy.

The company said it needs to build two 233 MW natural gas-fired peaking power plants, due to come online in 2028 and 2029. It also expects to build three peaking plants between 2031 and 2035, along with four large natural gas-fired plants, ranging in size from 466 MW to 699 MW, from 2040 to 2044. It also plans to develop 2300 MW of solar power between 2033 to 2044.

Altogether, MidAmerican anticipates adding 3495 MW of natural-gas fired generation, 3050 MW of solar power, and 345 of SMR capacity, along with 155 MW of molten salt power storage.