DNREC Negotiating Permanent Shutdown of Additional Coal Unit at Indian River Power Plant State Announces Community Forum to Discuss Proposed Plan
February 3, 2010
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary Collin O’Mara announced today that DNREC is evaluating a potential agreement with NRG that would shut down a third coal-fired electrical generating unit (Unit 3) from the Indian River Power Plant, leaving only the facility’s newest, largest and lowest-emission unit to remain in operation. DNREC will host a community meeting on February 11 beginning at 7 p.m. at the Millsboro Fire Company Banquet Hall to provide an overview of the proposal and receive public feedback.
Indian River currently operates four coal-fired units. Under a consent decree reached with the Department in 2007, NRG agreed to shut down its two oldest units in 2010 and 2011, and to install air pollution controls on Units 3 and 4 by the end of 2011 to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and mercury.
Under the proposal being evaluated, Unit 3 would operate through 2013 at which time it will be shut down permanently, rather than undergo installation of pollution controls and continue to operate for decades. The facility would continue plans to shut down Units 1 and 2 by 2011 and place controls on Unit 4, its largest, by the end of 2011. The project will cost approximately $360 million and create up to 350 construction jobs over two years. No permanent jobs are expected to be lost as a result of the shutdown due to attrition, retraining, and redeployment.
“Governor Markell made it clear that restoring the Inland Bays and reducing risks to public health are important to improving our state’s environment and its economy. This potential agreement could further each of those goals,” said O’Mara. “Beyond the emissions reductions from these three pollutants, the proposed agreement virtually eliminates the use of water and impacts on our fisheries from the facility’s cooling water intake. It dramatically reduces the amount of fly ash produced from coal combustion and significantly cuts greenhouse gas emissions.”
After extensive review by the experts who operate the regional electrical grid, analysis shows that the unit shutdown can be achieved without compromising the reliability of the electrical system and without additional costs to rate-payers. Further, reductions in energy demand and additional renewable energy generation, including NRG/Bluewater Wind’s planned offshore wind project off the coast of Rehoboth Beach, will further mitigate any long term impacts.
Recently, DNREC has been updating the facility’s permit that allows the intake of water from Indian River for cooling and the discharge of that water to the river and evaluating options that would reduce the amount of water needed, including a closed cycle cooling water structure to service Unit 3. Unit 4 is already equipped with a cooling water structure. Similarly, the Department has been scrutinizing the disposal and containment of fly ash at the facility. A permit was recently issued requiring a state-of-the-art landfill to be constructed and mitigation measures are being implemented to contain an historic fly ash disposal area. NRG also recently agreed to install monitors to evaluate any airborne fly ash particles.
Expected environmental benefits of the shutdown include:
• Elimination of between 30 and 40 billion gallons of cooling water drawn annually from Indian River;
• Elimination of annual kills of aquatic life including hundreds of thousands blue crabs, millions of bay anchovy, and hundreds of thousands of Atlantic menhaden, Atlantic croaker, winter flounder and weakfish;
• Reduction by about 1,173 tons annually of nitrogen oxide and 6,252 tons of sulfur dioxide;
• Elimination of 837,000 tons annually of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide;
• Reduction in annual fly ash production of between 40,000 and 70,000 tons; and
• Reduction of mercury emissions by five pounds annually.
Over an expected operational life of at least 30 years, the shutdown is anticipated to achieve the following percentage reductions over and above what the 2007 agreement would have achieved:
• 81 percent reduction of nitrogen oxide;
• 49 percent reduction of sulfur dioxide;
• 93 percent reduction of carbon dioxide;
• 93 percent reduction of mercury;
• 65 percent reduction in water use (assuming a cooling-tower would be implemented in 2015);
• 93 percent reduction of particulate matter emissions; and
• 97 percent reduction in land-filled materials, including fly ash.
