TransAlta Corp (TAC)

[eFinanceMarkets]

TransAlta eyes $1.5B in savings by converting coal-fired plants to gas early

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) says its decision to shut down its coal-fired power plants early and convert them to burn natural gas will save the company $1.5B, based on a projected $50/metric ton carbon tax in 2022.

While “it may be an intuitive conclusion that running the [coal plants] for the longest period of time that you can is the most valuable... our analysis showed that accelerating the conversions was actually the right thing to do," says TAC President and CEO Dawn Farrell, as the "converted plants will run for up to 15 years with roughly half the annual capital spend."

In addition to explaining the rationale behind last month's move announcement that it planned to retire and convert its coal-power generating stations, TAC reported Q1 results that missed analyst estimates, due in part to unplanned outages in the company’s Canadian coal operations.