WE Energies Nears Permit Approval for Large Coal-Fired Expansion Plans in Wisconsin

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). WE Energies, a subsidiary of Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE:WEC)(Milwaukee, Wisconsin), has been studying and permitting an expansion at its 916-megawatt (MW) Oak Creek Power Station, located in Oak Creek, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, for over thirteen years. The expansion has ranged from one 600-MW unit to three 600-MW units, all with coal-based fuel.

Currently the company is focusing on the three-unit expansion plan. However, the third unit is currently on indefinite hold. The first two units would be conventional steam units, but the third would be an integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) unit, where the coal would be gasified and used in a combined-cycle (C-C) configuration (gas-fired combustion turbine/generator(s) with heat recovery steam generators (HRSG) and a steam turbine/generator.

The local community, as well as the Wisconsin Public Service Commission has approved permitting for the addition of the two units. WE Energies has its air permit, but it needs final capital approval to move forward. In addition, the company needs its Chapter 30 Water Permit and its permit from the United States Army Corps of Engineers. WE Energies plans to have all these permits in place by the end of the year.

Current plans are for Bechtel Power Corporation (Frederick, Maryland), a subsidiary of Bechtel Group Incorporated (San Francisco, California) to start construction of the two 615-MW pulverized coal supercritical units in first quarter 2005, with completion and operation of the units in stages through 2010.

WE Energies' "Power the Future" program began in 2000, as the company began investing in additional generation, improving existing stations' environmental performance, and looking at the addition of renewable energy to give its customers reasonably-priced, lower emission electricity. The two primary projects in the company's "Power the Future" Program included the replacement of coal-fired units, as well as additional generation at the Port Washington Power Station, with natural gas-fired combined-cycle, and the addition of coal-fired units at the Oak Creek Plant, using the best available technologies. In addition, WE Energies is looking at ways to reduce emissions from existing units, as well as acquiring renewable energy (Wind Farms, Bio-Mass to Energy, Solar Energy and Waste to Energy).

This is part of WE Energies "Power the Future" program, which began with the construction of the first unit of Phase I (two natural gas-fired 545-MW C-C units) at its Port Washington Power Station in July 2003. That project is being constructed by the Princeton, New Jersey, office of Washington Group International Incorporated (NASDAQ:WGII)(Boise, Idaho) and is to be operational by July 2005. The second unit is scheduled to begin construction in the Spring 2006, with completion in Spring 2008.

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