Indiana Plant Shut Due to River Conditions

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Researched by Industrial Information Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Cayuga Power Station (Cayuga, Indiana), which is owned by Duke Energy Indiana Incorporated (NYSE:DUK) and operates as a subsidiary of Cinergy Corporation, shut down the 531-megawatt (MW) coal-fired Unit 2 because of environmental concerns.

When there is lack of water needed for power generation, such as when lakes or river levels are low, this can become a major problem for plants. Water is taken from lakes and rivers nationally. It also is used by power plants. Most nuclear, fossil-fuel, coal and natural gas facilities need a significant amount of water to cool the plant's equipment. However, most of the water returns to the rivers after it has served its purpose for cooling, albeit usually at a slightly higher temperature. This can cause a problem for some sea creatures, such as fish and live species.

The Cayuga units receive cooling water from the Wabash River, which has caused plant officials to be significantly concerned for Unit 2, because of the dry drought and low river waters. Drought conditions can impact electricity generation and consequently affect power-related equipment. It can become a major concern when some rivers and reservoirs fall to low levels. Plant officials at Cayuga are hoping for rain or any kind of flood to bring water. The unit will remain offline until weather conditions change. They anticipate that in another week, conditions will be better and the unit will be able to return online.

The coal-fired plant has two generating coal units and a generating capacity of 1,062 MW when at full load. Unit 1 continues to operate online at full capacity.

Duke Energy Indiana (formerly PSI Energy) is one of the largest utilities. The company transmits and distributes electricity to 69 of the state's 92 counties. The utility also owns power plants (which have about 7,000 MW of primarily fossil-fuel capacity). These plants are operated by Duke Energy's parent merchant energy division.

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