Utilities Evaluate Best Courses of Action in Regard to Coal- and Oil-Fired Fleets

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--As the fleet of coal- and fuel oil-fired plants ages, the decision to keep these plants operational has become a major issue for electrical utilities. Special interest groups opposing these plants have raised the interest in the political area to bring about a change. Lawmakers have created legislation to attack this issue through the implementation of laws that might better serve the health and well-being of the United States and the world. These power plants have been described as filthy, polluting vehicles that contribute to the advancement and enhancement of greenhouse gases and global warming. For many years, coal and fuel oil have been an important fuel source for the production of electrical energy. Now as more attention has been drawn to the independent power producers and municipalities associated with producing electrical power, corrective measures are necessary to curb the attitude toward coal extraction and use.

In 1990, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initiated the Clean Air Act Amendment. Even though this national standard was adopted to reduce the mercury and other toxic air pollutants released into the atmosphere, some power plants did not comply with these requests. In December 2011, the EPA enacted the Mercury and Air Toxic Standards (MATS), which gives more focus to the control of emissions. In doing so, this standard provided a timeline for the decreased amount of pollutants released to our communities. This has not been an attack on coal or fuel oil, but an approach toward upgrading an acceptable environmental improvement on living standards and our ecosystem.

Whether to shutter, mothball, close, perform boiler fuel conversions, or keep these plants operational has become a topic of interest to all owners of coal or fuel oil power plants. There have been many feasibility studies regarding the continued use coal and fuel oil versus alternative power sources. Boiler fuel conversions would be an alternative, whether it is biomass, biofuels, natural gas, coke, or hybrid attachments to reduce coal or fuel oil usage. In any case, these adjustments have an inherit cost associated with them.

Many plants have reduced their emissions by the installation of selective catalytic reduction equipment and flue-gas desulfurization technology, using activated carbon injection, or dry sorbent injection (DSI) using fabric filter (FF) or electrostatic precipitators (ESP). These types of technology have enhanced the control of toxic elements emitted by this aging fleet. Boiler modifications and the controlled practices of flue-gas discharge have proved to promote cleaner day-to-day operations.

Plant closures are the alternative. For example, after evaluating the alternatives and feasibility of unit modifications, FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) (Akron, Ohio) has decided to shutter several of the company's coal-fired power plants. The reason for this decision is the high costs that will be incurred to modify these emissions. Because of the condition and age of the plants, and cost of modification control measures, FirstEnergy concluded the best measure was to close the plants. These plants are the Rivesville, Albright and Willow Island Power Plants in West Virginia; R. Paul Smith in Maryland; the Armstrong power plant in Pennsylvania; and the Eastlake, Bay Shore (units 2-4), Lake Shore, and Ashtabula plants in Ohio. These facilities account for more than 3,300 megawatts of electrical energy.

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