Ohio Edison to Transform Coal-Fired Units to Biomass-Powered

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department have directed Ohio Edison Company (OEC) (Akron, Ohio), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) (Akron), to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions from the company's coal-fired plants. Under the modified Clean Air Act consent decree, OEC has agreed to repower two coal-fired units of the R.E. Burger plant, located near of Shadyside, Ohio, with a renewable fuel mix in order to trim harmful emissions. The modified decree is an extension of the original consent decree passed in 2005 that required OEC to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from coal-fed power plants.

Units 4 and 5 of the power plant have a combined potential power-generating capacity of up to 312 megawatts (MW). Starting in 2012, both units will run primarily on a mix of biomass fuels from sustainable natural sources such as waste vegetation, grasses, waste agricultural produce, tree trimmings and other byproducts. The fuel mix, however, will still contain about 20% coal with low sulfur content.

OEC has drawn up a self-sustaining, carbon-neutral approach that involves the use of biomass from energy crops such as the cottonwood tree that are specially cultivated to meet the fuel requirements. The crops will also serve as a carbon sink, absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during their growth periods. The biomass fuel mix is expected to be more effective in controlling emissions than the installation of conventional scrubbers to treat gaseous effluents.

OEC will incur a capital expenditure of about $200 million in the process of revamping the infrastructure at the R.E. Burger power plant to adapt operations to the new fuel mix. Upon completion of the revamp operations, emission rates will be reduced by 1,300 tons per year for nitrogen oxides, 14,000 tons per year for sulfur dioxide, and 700 tons per year for particulate matter. In addition, carbon-dioxide emissions will also be reduced 1.3 million tons per year, moving from the current level of more than 1.7 million tons per year to 400,000 tons per year.

OEC was sued in 1999 for violating the Clean Air Act. The case was later resolved by means of the 2005 agreement to minimize effluent emissions. The violations regarding sulfur-dioxide emission levels primarily involved OEC's W.H. Sammis plant, located in Stratton, Ohio, which accounted for 145,000 tons of sulfur-dioxide emissions. Several other smaller plants, including the R.E. Burger facility, also had high sulfur-dioxide emissions levels. OEC was left with three alternatives to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions from the R.E Burger power plant: install a flue-gas scrubber, repower the plant with a new fuel mix, or cease all plant operations. The company chose to repower the facility with biomass fuel.

Subsequent to the first year of operations on biomass fuel and associated process optimizations, emissions levels of the R.E. Burger plant will be reviewed based on the prescribed emissions standards for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. The venture will also add to FirstEnergy Corporation's renewable energy projects, taking its total installed capacity of such projects to more than 1,100 MW.

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