The Brandon Shores Generating Station is an electric generating station located on Fort Smallwood Road north of Orchard Beach in

Anne Arundel County Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, whi ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, near Glen Burnie, and is operated by Raven Power Holdings, Inc. Brandon Shores consists of two

Babcock & Wilcox Babcock & Wilcox is an American renewable, environmental and thermal energy technologies and service provider that is active and has operations in many international markets across the globe with its headquarters in Akron, Ohio, USA. Historicall ...

coal-fired boilers and two

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

steam turbines with a combined nominal generating capacity of 1370 MWe. Unit 1 went into operation in May 1984 and Unit 2 in May 1991. The station shares a site adjacent to the Patapsco River with the

Herbert A. Wagner Generating Station The Herbert A. Wagner Generating Station is an Power station, electric generating station located on Fort Smallwood Road north of Orchard Beach, Maryland, Orchard Beach in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, just east of ...

. The Brandon Shores plant dominates the site with its exhaust and flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) system stacks. Talen Energy will convert the coal-fired units to alternative fuels by 2025.

Coal delivery

The Brandon Shores and Wagner Generating Stations consume approximately 4.8 million tons of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

annually. Coal for both stations is delivered by barge. Although there is a railroad spur into the site, it is unused and would require improvements to restore it to an operational state.

Environmental violations

Constellation Energy Constellation Energy Corporation () is an energy company headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The company provides electric power, natural gas, and energy management services. It has approximately two million customers across th ...

disposed fly ash from Brandon Shores at a former sand and gravel mine in

Gambrills, Maryland Gambrills refers to two neighboring places in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States, located in the Annapolis metro area: the unincorporated community of Gambrills, and the Gambrills census-designated place (CDP). The area was named after A ...

during 1996 to 2007. The ash contaminated groundwater with heavy metals. The

Maryland Department of the Environment The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) is a government agency in the state of Maryland that implements and enforces environmental protection laws and programs. The agency's stated vision is "Healthy, vibrant and sustainable communities a ...

issued a fine of $1 million to Constellation. Nearby residents filed a lawsuit against Constellation and in 2008 the company settled the case for $54 million.

Renovation

In order to meet Maryland requirements for reductions of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and mercury, the plant was substantially renovated between 2007 and 2010. A new twin FGD stack was built to replace the existing stacks, which have been capped and are inoperative. Flue gas from the boilers is routed through the emissions control system that sprays the exhaust with a

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

slurry and collects

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywal ...

for use in

wallboard Drywall (also called plasterboard, dry lining, wallboard, sheet rock, gypsum board, buster board, custard board, and gypsum panel) is a panel made of calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum), with or without additives, typically extruded between thic ...

and fly ash for use in concrete. The system uses treated municipal wastewater from the Anne Arundel County Cox Creek

wastewater treatment plant Wastewater treatment is a process used to remove contaminants from wastewater and convert it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once returned to the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on the environmen ...

as the source of water for making the limestone slurry.

2012 sale

The plant was originally constructed by a predecessor company of Constellation Energy, which was purchased by

Exelon Exelon Corporation is an American Fortune 100 energy company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and incorporated in Pennsylvania. It generates revenues of approximately $33.5 billion and employs approximately 33,400 people. Exelon is the largest ...

in 2012. On August 9, 2012, Exelon announced that it had reached an agreement for the sale of the Charles P. Crane, Brandon Shores, and Herbert A. Wagner Generating Stations to Raven Power Holdings LLC, a newly formed portfolio company of Riverstone Holdings LLC, for approximately $400 million. Exelon had committed to divest the plants as condition for regulatory approval of its merger with Constellation Energy to alleviate concerns regarding potential

market power In economics, market power refers to the ability of a firm to influence the price at which it sells a product or service by manipulating either the supply or demand of the product or service to increase economic profit. In other words, market powe ...

in the regional wholesale electricity market. The sale was completed on November 30, 2012.

Scheduled closure

On November 10, 2020 Talen Energy (parent company of Raven Power) announced that it will stop burning coal at the Brandon Shores and Wagner plants by the end of 2025. The plants will be converted to use alternative fuel sources.

Dispatch of electricity

The electrical output of Brandon Shores Generating Station is dispatched by the

PJM Interconnection PJM Interconnection LLC (PJM) is a regional transmission organization (RTO) in the United States. It is part of the Eastern Interconnection grid operating an electric transmission system serving all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kent ...

regional transmission organization A regional transmission organization (RTO) in the United States is an electric power transmission system operator (TSO) that coordinates, controls, and monitors a multi-state electric grid. The transfer of electricity between states is considered i ...

References

External links

Brandon Shores Plant
- Talen Energy {{Power stations in Maryland Energy infrastructure completed in 1984 Energy infrastructure completed in 1991 Buildings and structures in Anne Arundel County, Maryland Coal-fired power stations in Maryland 1984 establishments in Maryland