Pleasant Prairie Power Plant

Pleasant Prairie Power Plant
Country United States
Location Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin
Coordinates 42°32′17″N 87°54′17″W / 42.53806°N 87.90472°W / 42.53806; -87.90472Coordinates: 42°32′17″N 87°54′17″W / 42.53806°N 87.90472°W / 42.53806; -87.90472
Status Decommissioned
Commission date Unit 1: 1980
Unit 2: 1985
Decommission date Units 1–2: April, 2018
Owner(s) We Energies
Thermal power station
Primary fuel Coal
Type Steam turbine
Cooling source 2 × Mechanical Draft
Power generation
Units operational 2 × 605 MW[1]
Nameplate capacity 1,210 MW

Pleasant Prairie Power Plant was a 1.2-gigawatt (1,210 MW) coal power plant located in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin in Kenosha County. In 2009, it was listed by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) as the largest generating station in Wisconsin and generates roughly 13% of Wisconsin's electricity, burning around 13,000 tons of coal daily.[1][2]

Background

The 30-year-old power plant has developed and applied a retrofit system that has helped reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) by up to 90% and sulfur dioxide (SO
2) by up to 95%. The Pleasant Prairie plant produces “8.6 million tons of CO2 annually – about as much as (that produced by) 1.7 million US cars”, according to The Wall Street Journal.[3]The plant uses experimental technology designed by French Alstom SA to separate carbon dioxide from the exhaust, and is seen as a proving ground for clean coal technology.[3] The plant is owned by We Energies.[1] In an effort to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the plant uses a chilled ammonia (NH3) process developed by Alstom. that captures up to 90% of carbon emissions as it escapes the flue gas. The demonstration project began in March 2008 and will last for two years.[4] The America’s Power Factuality Tour stopped at the Pleasant Prairie Power Plant to report on its role in generating electricity in the United States in 2009.[4]

Pleasant Prairie receives its coal from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. Most of it is sourced from the Cordero Rojo Mine.[5]

On November 28, 2017, WEC Energy Group announced that it would be closing the plant in 2018, pending permission from Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO). WEC cited market forces such as cheaper natural gas and renewables for the plant's closure.[6] Pleasant Prairie shut down on April 3, 2018.[7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Pleasant Prairie Power Plant" (PDF). We Energies. February 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  2. ↑ "Wisconsin - Ten Largest Plants by Generating Capacity, 2009" (PDF). U.S. Energy Information Administration. 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Cool hard facts: cleaning it won't be dirt cheap". Wall Street Journal. March 20, 2009.
  4. 1 2 "America's Power Factuality Tour 2009". Retrieved August 27, 2009.
  5. ↑ Richards, Heather (November 29, 2017). "Wisconsin coal plant, customer to five Wyoming mines, likely to retire early". Casper Star-Tribune. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  6. ↑ Bergquist, Lee (November 28, 2017). "We Energies Coal Fired Plant Pleasant Prairie Shut Down 2018". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  7. ↑ Quirmbach, Chuck (April 4, 2018). "Pleasant Prairie Power Plant Ends Operation". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
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