One of the fastest, most cost-effective ways to add power to the grid is by expanding the capacity of existing power plants. Expanding existing power plants’ capacity is a critical and often overlooked part of meeting America’s growing electricity demand. As competitive generators develop innovative new solutions to build new plants, they are already maintaining existing essential resources and delivering additional capacity through uprates, conversions, and more efficient operations — helping keep the lights on and reducing emissions while new resources are developed.
Plants can produce more power through the following methods:
- Uprates: Opportunities to increase output through equipment upgrades, efficiency improvements, or operational changes.
- Fuel conversions: Converting existing plants to be more efficient, often converting “peaker” plants to baseload power or installing an alternative fuel source.
- Reactivations: Plants once slated for retirement are being reactivated or extended due to rising electricity demand.
- Hybridization: Many plants are adding batteries or other technologies to expand capacity and flexibility.
Taken together, uprates, conversions, and reactivations represent thousands of megawatts of additional capacity that can meet rising demand in the near future.
Timeline
Fastest Ways to Add Power to the Grid
| Approach | Typical Timeline |
| New plant | 5–10 years |
| Uprate | 1–3 years |
| Fuel conversion | 2–4 years |
| Reactivation | Months–2 years |
A Closer Look
Uprates at two of Constellation’s nuclear facilities in Illinois will bring on 158MW, enough to power 100,000 homes.
“These investments in our world class nuclear fleet will allow us to generate more zero-carbon energy with the same amount of fuel and land, and that’s a win for the economy, the environment and Illinois families and businesses who rely on our clean energy,” – Joe Dominguez, President and CEO, Constellation
Not All New Capacity Requires Building New Plants
EPSA Members Lead by Example EPSA member companies—including LS Power, Vistra, NRG, Calpine, Talen Energy, Invenergy, Constellation, and AlphaGen—are investing in uprates, fuel conversions, and life-extension projects that are adding and preserving thousands of megawatts of reliable capacity across U.S. power markets while also contributing to emissions reductions.
Expanding existing generation is one of the most practical near-term solutions to meeting rising demand:
FASTER
Projects can come online in months to a few years – not a decade.
AT A LOWER COST
Avoiding major new infrastructure and permitting hurdles.
MORE EFFICIENTLY
Leveraging existing sites, transmission and workforce.
In addition to improving reliability and lowering operating costs, repowering or upgrading existing power plants can also provide significant emissions reductions by increasing efficiency, adding carbon capture systems, fuel switching, or other enhancements.
Bottom Line
EPSA member companies operate more than 225,000 MW of power and are demonstrating that significant new capacity can be added without building entirely new plants, providing a faster, more cost-effective path to maintaining grid reliability as demand continues to rise.
