The E. W. Brown Generating Station is a quad

coal-fired power plant A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide, there are about 8,500 coal-fired power stations totaling over 2,000 gigawatts capacity. They generate about a th ...

natural gas power plant A gas-fired power plant or gas-fired power station or natural gas power plant is a thermal power station which burns natural gas to generate electricity. Natural gas power stations generate almost a quarter of world electricity and a signifi ...

solar power plant A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building- ...

, and hydro electric plant owned and operated by

Kentucky Utilities Kentucky Utilities (KU) is based in Lexington, Kentucky, and provides electricity to 77 counties in Kentucky. KU also serves five counties in Virginia under the name Old Dominion Power.

near

Harrodsburg Harrodsburg is a home rule-class city in Mercer County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 9,064 at the 2020 census. Although Harrodsburg was formally established by the House of Burgesses after Boonesbor ...

Mercer County, Kentucky Mercer County is a county located in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,772. Its county seat is Harrodsburg. The county was formed from Lincoln County, Virginia in 1785 and is named for Revolutionar ...

Coal power

Brown has three coal-fired units: Unit 1 with a capacity of 107-megawatts ( MW), Unit 2 with 168 MW, and Unit 3 with 413 MW. KU settled with the

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

(EPA) in February 2009 for Unit 3 being under violation of the Clear Air Act. Under the settlement, KU had to install state-of-the-art pollution control technologies to reduce

sulfur dioxide Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic gas responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is released naturally by volcanic activ ...

() and

nitrogen oxide Nitrogen oxide may refer to a binary compound of oxygen and nitrogen, or a mixture of such compounds: Charge-neutral *Nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen(II) oxide, or nitrogen monoxide *Nitrogen dioxide (), nitrogen(IV) oxide * Nitrogen trioxide (), or n ...

() emissions. In November 2017, it was announced by LG&E and KU Energy that Units 1 and 2 were shut down in February 2019. Stricter environmental rules and energy efficiency outweighed the cost of running the units.

Solar energy

In 2014, the state Public Service Commission authorized the construction of a

solar photovoltaic A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and co ...

array at the E. W. Brown Generating Station. The array will be the first utility-scale solar project in the state, and will be capable of providing 10 MW of power alongside the

fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels m ...

based generators already operating onsite. The Kentucky chapter of the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...

supported the solar project, but had concerns that the projected costs of the solar installation would become too high. The utilities operating the facility, the Sierra Club and the Kentucky Industrial Utilities Customers signed an agreement under which

competitive bidding Procurement is the method of discovering and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. When a government agency buys goods or serv ...

will be used on contracts to design and build the solar array. The solar array was unveiled in April 2016 and began operations the following June.

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectric power is powered by the nearby

Dix Dam The Dix Dam is a dam on the Dix River located between Mercer and Garrard County, Kentucky. It was constructed to generate hydroelectricity and prevent flooding of the Kentucky River but is better known for creating Herrington Lake. History Dix D ...

. The dam generates 33 MW.

References

External links

Official Website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119093846/http://www.lge-ku.com/ku/ku_plant_info.asp , date=2010-11-19 Energy infrastructure completed in 1957 Energy infrastructure completed in 1963 Energy infrastructure completed in 1969 Coal-fired power plants in Kentucky Natural gas-fired power stations in Kentucky Solar power stations in Kentucky Buildings and structures in Mercer County, Kentucky

Coal power

Solar energy

Hydroelectricity

See also

References

External links