Plant Scherer
{{Short description|Coal-fired power station in Georgia, US}}
{{Infobox power station
| name = Plant Scherer
| name_official = Robert W. Scherer Electric Generating Plant
| image = schererplant.jpg
| image_caption =
| country = United States
| location = Monroe County, near Juliette, Georgia
| coordinates = {{coord | 33.063 |-83.804 | region:US-GA_type:landmark_dim:1500 | display=inline,title}}
| operator = Georgia Power
| owner = Oglethorpe Power (30%)
FPL (25.35%)
Georgia Power (22.95%)
MEAG (15.1%)
JEA (5.9%)
City of Dalton (0.7%)
| th_fuel_primary = Coal
| th_combined_cycle =
| ps_units_operational = 4 × 935 MW
| ps_electrical_capacity = 3,740 MW
| ps_electrical_cap_fac = 61.2%
| commissioned = Unit 1: 1982
Unit 2: 1984
Unit 3: 1987
Unit 4: 1989
| decommissioned = Unit 3: 2035 (planned)
Unit 4: 2022 (planned)[https://news.wjct.org/post/jea-approves-plan-close-unit-plant-scherer-1-nation-s-biggest-carbon-emitters JEA Approves Plan To Close Unit At Plant Scherer, 1 Of Nation’s Biggest Carbon Emitters]
}}
The Robert W. Scherer Power Plant (also known as Plant Scherer) is a coal-fired power plant in Juliette, Georgia, just north of Macon, Georgia, in the United States. The plant has four generating units, each capable of producing 935 megawatts, and is the most powerful coal-fired plant in North America. The plant is named after the former chairman and chief executive officer of Georgia Power.{{cite report|url=http://gp.cseinteractive.com/docs/about-us/Plant%20Sherer%20Brochure.pdf|title=Robert W Scherer Power Plant|access-date=April 11, 2013|publisher=Georgia Power|location=Georgia}}
Description
Each generating unit has a rated capacity of 945 megawatts, but produces 880 MW. The first unit was brought online in 1982. Additional units were brought online in 1984, 1987, and 1989.
It has two {{convert|1001|ft|m|0|adj=on}} chimney stacks, one built in 1982 and the second in 1986. Based on data {{As of|2018|lc=y}}, Plant Scherer is the fourth-largest electric generating plant in the United States, the largest to be fueled exclusively by coal,{{Cite web|url=https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.php?page=electricity_in_the_united_states#tab3|title=Electricity in the United States - Energy Explained, Your Guide To Understanding Energy - Energy Information Administration|website=www.eia.gov|access-date=May 10, 2018}} and the number one emitter of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the U.S., at over {{convert|20000000|ST}} per year.[http://ghgdata.epa.gov/ghgp/main.do Source: EPA]
The plant's location is along the flight path of many commercial airline flights using Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta, and is a prominent feature on the landscape, easily visible during daylight flights.
It was announced in June 2020 that Scherer will shut down Unit 4 by 2022 under an agreement reached by Florida Power & Light and the Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA).{{cite news|url=https://www.powermag.com/unit-at-largest-u-s-coal-plant-will-close/|title=Unit at Largest U.S. Coal Plant Will Close|last=Proctor|first=Darrell|publisher=Power Magazine|date=June 29, 2020|access-date=July 6, 2020}} In November 2021, Georgia Power announced that Unit 3 would also close, this time by year 2025.{{cite news|url=https://www.eenews.net/articles/nations-3rd-largest-utility-to-shut-down-half-of-coal-fleet/|title=Nation's 3rd-largest utility to shut down half of coal fleet|last=Swartz|first=Kristi|publisher=E&E News|date=November 5, 2021|access-date=November 7, 2021}}
Operator and ownership
The plant is operated by Georgia Power, a subsidiary of the Southern Company,
{{cite report
|title=Highest CO2 Emitting Power Plants in the World
|location=Washington, DC
|publisher=Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA)
|url=http://carma.org/plant
|access-date= April 12, 2013
}}
along with Oglethorpe Power Corporation, the city of Dalton, Georgia; NextEra Energy (through subsidiary Florida Power & Light); JEA of Jacksonville, Florida; and the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia.
{{cite web
|title=Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG) Power Generation Facilities
|url=http://www.meagpower.org/PowerGeneration/Facilities/tabid/70/Default.aspx
|publisher=Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG)
|access-date=April 12, 2013
}}
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| ! Unit 1
! Unit 2 ! Unit 3 ! Unit 4 |
|---|
| OPC
| 60.0% | 60.0% |align=center| — |align=center| — |
| Georgia Power
| 8.4% | 8.4% | 75.0% |align=center| — |
| FPL
|align=center| — |align=center| — | 25.0%{{refn|group=nb| FPL's share of Unit 3 was previously owned by Gulf Power Company, when that utility was owned by Southern Company, the owners of Georgia Power. NextEra Energy, the parent company of FPL, acquired Gulf Power in 2019, assimilating it into the FPL system in 2021 and retiring its name in 2022. Prior to the merger, FPL's total ownership of Plant Scherer was 15.1% and Gulf Power's was 6.25%.}} | 76.4% |
| MEAG
| 30.2% | 30.2% |align=center| — |align=center| — |
| JEA
|align=center| — |align=center| — |align=center| — | 23.6% |
| City of Dalton
| 1.4% | 1.4% |align=center| — |align=center| — |
Coal trains
The coal used at the Scherer plant comes from Wyoming's Powder River Basin, and is delivered by Norfolk Southern to the plant by BNSF unit trains of up to 135 cars. Currently,{{When?|date=January 2019}} at least two and as many as five trains a day are unloaded at Plant Scherer. The trains use a hydraulic dump system and are unloaded from the bottom of the cars while passing over the unloading trestle. They do not stop while unloading, and are usually unloaded in around 90 minutes. Train ID numbers are usually NS 732-739.{{cn|date=August 2020}} Trains get on Memphis District via BNSF and on Atlanta District in Chattanooga.
Emissions
As of August 2012, Plant Scherer is under Georgia EPD investigation for coal ash pond leeching / drinking water contamination and air pollution / air quality. According to Natural History magazine, {{As of|2006|lc=on}} Plant Scherer is the largest single point-source for carbon dioxide emissions in the United States.
{{cite journal
|url = http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/0506/0506_feature.html
|title = Feature
|journal = Natural History
|date = 2012
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081201164130/http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/0506/0506_feature.html
|archive-date = December 1, 2008
}} It was also ranked 20th in the world in terms of carbon dioxide emissions by the Center for Global Development on its list of global power plants in November 2007. It was the only power plant in the United States that was listed in the world's top 25 carbon dioxide producers.
{{cite web
|url=http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/cfgd-crc111207.php
|date=November 14, 2007
|first=Lawrence
|last=MacDonald
|title=Center for Global Development CGD ranks CO2 emissions from power plants worldwide
|access-date=April 12, 2013
}}
=Regulatory policies and institutions=
Since 2009 Lisa Jackson, Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed controversial rules and regulations which include the Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology rule and the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule.
{{cite news
|url=http://www.thecitizen.com/blogs/lynn-westmoreland/09-27-2011/epa-puts-screws-power-plants
|publisher=The Citizen
|title=The EPA puts the screws to power plants
|date=September 27, 2011
|first=Lynn
|last=Westmoreland (Republican Member of Congress)
}} Under CSAPR, non-complying plants like Scherer had only less than six months to implement required changes.
In 2011 Southern Company awarded KBR the contract for the installation of Plant Scherer's environmental compliance equipment, which included installation of flue-gas desulfurization and selective catalytic reduction equipment, related ductwork, and auxiliaries at two coal-fired units.
{{cite news
|url=http://www.kbr.com/Newsroom/Press-Releases/2011/08/15/KBR-to-Execute-Equipment-Installation-at-One-of-the-Nations-Largest-Power-Generating-Stations/
|title=KBR to Execute Equipment Installation at One of the Nation's Largest Power Generating Stations
|publisher=KBR
|location=Houston, Texas
|date=August 15, 2011
}}
As of 2010, KBR, Haliburton and other contractors had constructed two additional {{convert|847|ft|m|0|adj=on}} tall steam stacks for the Flue-Gas Desulfurization/scrubber.
Notes
{{reflist|group=nb}}
See also
{{Portal|Georgia (U.S. state)|Energy}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b5480
- {{cite report
| url = http://gp.cseinteractive.com/docs/about-us/Plant%20Sherer%20Brochure.pdf
| title = Robert W Scherer Power Plant
| access-date = April 11, 2013
| publisher = Georgia Power
| location = Georgia
}}
- {{cite web
| title = Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG) Power Generation Facilities
| url = http://www.meagpower.org/PowerGeneration/Facilities/tabid/70/Default.aspx
| publisher = Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG)
| access-date = April 12, 2013
}}
- [https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser/#/plant/6257 Data on generation and fuel consumption] from the Energy Information Administration Electricity Data Browser
{{Georgia Power |state=autocollapse}}
{{Supertall chimneys}}
Category:Towers completed in 1982
Category:Towers completed in 1986
Category:Towers in Georgia (U.S. state)
Category:Buildings and structures in Monroe County, Georgia
Category:Coal-fired power stations in Georgia (U.S. state)
Category:Chimneys in the United States