Coal-Fired Plants in Alaska & Washington

Centralia
Location: WA
Operator: TransAlta
Configuration: 2 X 702 MW
Operation: 1972-1973
Fuel: subbituminous coal
Boiler supplier: CE
T/G supplier: Westinghouse
EPC: Bechtel
Quick facts: Centralia was acquired by TransAlta from a consortium of local power companies in 2000. The nearby Centralia mine produces exclusively for the power plant and provides about 85% of the annual 5.5mn ton fuel burn. The balance is sourced form the Powder River Basin. In 2002, TransAlta completed a $180mn plant upgrade including the addition of Alstom FGD scrubbers.

Photograph courtesy of TransAlta
Posted 27 May 2006

Clear AFS
Location: AK
Operator: US Air Force
Configuration: 3 X 7.5 MW CHP
Operation: 1961
Fuel: subbituminous coal
Boiler supplier: ??
T/G supplier: General Electric
Quick facts: Clear Air Station is home to the 13th Space Warning Squadron whose primary mission is to provide early warning of ballistic missiles launches to North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The AFS also provides space surveillance data on orbiting objects. The power plant was retrofit with a baghouse and continuous opacity monitoring system in Aug 2005. Clear AFS burns approximately 58,000 tons of coal per year delivered by rail from Usibelli Coal Mine Inc.

Photograph courtesy of US Air Force
Posted 12 Mar 2008

Healy Clean Coal
Location: AK
Operator: Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority
Configuration: 1 X 62.9 MW
Operation: 2011
Fuel: subbituminous coal
Boiler supplier: FW
T/G supplier: Fuji
EPC: S&W, FW, H C Price Co, Sumitomo
Quick facts: HCCP was built as the result of a 1980s DOE solicitation for innovative coal-combustion power generating technologies. The boiler has an advanced slagging combustor system with LNB followed by a sorbent injection/spray dryer/baghouse system. In 1991, Golden Valley Electric Association entered into a 30yr PPA with AIDEA for output from HCCP. A 90-day test run was completed in Dec 1999, at which time the net capital cost of the facility was $281mn. By that time, GVEA was already litigating the PPA acceptance terms and in Mar 2000 AIDEA and GVEA entered into a Settlement Agreement, which provided for the interim shutdown of HCCP. The plant has never operated since. Further litigation and legal actions ensued until Dec 2009 when GVEA and AIDEA finalized negotiating documents for an asset purchase sales agreement. When the GVEA purchase is concluded, restart engineering and modifications will be required before anticipated commercial operation in 2011. Fuel will be from Usibelli Coal Mine, a partner in HCCP from the beginning.

Photograph courtesy of Alaska Energy Wiki
Posted 24 Mar 2010

Abbreviations

Data: industcards, Platts UDI World Electric Power Plants Data Base

Updated 03/24/10

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