The Gibson Generating Station is a
coal-burning 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 ...
located at the northernmost end of
Montgomery Township,
Gibson County, Indiana
Gibson County is a county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 33,503. The county seat is Princeton.
History
In 1787, the fledgling United States defined the Northwest T ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It is close to the
Wabash River
The Wabash River ( French: Ouabache) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana in the United States. It flows fro ...
, southeast of
Mount Carmel, Illinois
Mount Carmel is a city in and the county seat of Wabash County, Illinois, United States. At the time of the 2010 census, the population was 7,284, and it is the largest city in the county. The next largest town in Wabash County is Allendale, po ...
, south of the mouth of the
Patoka River
The Patoka River (Pronounced, PaTohKah) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 19, 2011 tributary of the Wabash River in southwestern Indiana in the United States. It d ...
, and south of the mouth of the
White River. The closest Indiana communities are
Owensville to the southeast of the plant, and
Princeton
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...
, to the east. With a 2013 aggregate output capacity among its five units of 3,345 megawatts, it is the largest power plant run by
Duke Energy
Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Overview
Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Duke Energy owns 58,200 megawatts of base-load and peak generation in ...
, and the tenth-largest electrical plant in the United States. Given the closure of the
Nanticoke Generating Station in Ontario, in 2013, the Gibson Generating Station became the largest coal power plant in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
by generated power.
Also on the grounds of the facility is a large man-made lake called
Gibson Lake which is used as a
cooling pond for the plant. Neighboring the plant is a Duke-owned, publicly accessible access point to the Wabash River near a small island that acts as a wildlife preserve. This is the nearest boat-ramp to Mount Carmel on the Indiana side of the river. Located immediately south of Gibson Lake, the plant's cooling pond, is the
Cane Ridge National Wildlife Refuge, the newest unit of the
Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge and Management Area
The Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge and Management Area, established in 1994, is a collection of wildlife refuges and habitats situated along the Patoka River in Gibson and Pike counties in southwestern Indiana. It consists mostly of the ...
. Opened in August 2006, this area serves as a nesting ground for the
least tern
The least tern (''Sternula antillarum'') is a species of tern that breeds in North America and locally in northern South America. It is closely related to, and was formerly often considered conspecific with, the little tern of the Old World. Ot ...
. Cane Ridge NWR is reportedly the easternmost nesting ground for the bird in the U.S.
The Gibson Generating Station is connected to the power grid via five 345 kV and one 138 kV transmission lines to 79 Indiana counties including the
Indianapolis area
Indianapolis–Carmel–Anderson or Indianapolis metropolitan area is an 11-county metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Indiana, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget. The metropolitan area is situated in Central Indiana, within the ...
and a sixth 345 kV line running from GGS to
Evansville
Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in S ...
and
Henderson Henderson may refer to:
People
*Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname
*Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan
Places Argentina
*Henderson, Buenos Aires
Australia
*Henderson, Western Australia
Canada
* H ...
, owned by
Vectren
Vectren Corporation was a Fortune 1000 energy holding company headquartered in Evansville, Indiana. Through its utility subsidiaries (Vectren North, Vectren South, and Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio), the company distributed natural gas to appro ...
and
Kenergy.
History
The Gibson Generating Station was originally built as a two-unit coal-fired power plant in 1972 by Public Service Indiana (PSI) with initial plans to build 8 units. The 1970s saw the addition of Units 3, 4. However, environmental regulations prevented the construction of the two remaining additional units in the original plan. In 1982, Unit 5 was constructed, and two more stacks were added. In the 1990s, number 4 was separated from number 3's stack, and each was given its own stack, while Units 1 and 2 continued to share a stack.
Cinergy took over PSI in 1995. After the merger, all five units were fitted with new
Selective catalytic reduction
Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) is a means of converting nitrogen oxides, also referred to as with the aid of a catalyst into diatomic nitrogen (), and water (). A reductant, typically anhydrous ammonia (), aqueous ammonia (), or a urea () s ...
(SCR) equipment, mounted on the back of each unit. During this construction, one of the largest cranes in the world was erected at Gibson Station. Despite this, the station only had 4 stacks for 5 units. Units 1 & 2 still shared a single flue stack and Unit 3 was still using the old 3 & 4 stack. (These are the two darker smokestacks in the above photograph. Both of these stacks have since been removed bringing the number of visible stacks back down to four).
Duke Energy took over Cinergy in May 2006.
Changes and Upgrades
A new common stack with independent flues was constructed for units 1 & 2 and a single new stack was built for unit 3 as part of installation of wet
FGD systems on these units. In 2017 the abandoned stacks were demolished, thereby leaving four standing.
A series of SCR units have been installed to decrease its
NOx
In atmospheric chemistry, is shorthand for nitric oxide () and nitrogen dioxide (), the nitrogen oxides that are most relevant for air pollution.
These gases contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain, as well as affecting tropos ...
emissions. These improvements were completed in 2008, with Unit 5 being the last.
Wet FGD (Flue Gas Desulfurization) systems have been retrofitted to units 1-4. Emissions from the station are considered to be fully scrubbed.
Unit information
Earthquake effects
At 4:37:00am CDT (9:37:00 UTC) on April 18, 2008, a 5.4 earthquake rocked the area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (''Very strong''). The epicenter was located northwest of the station in nearby
Wabash County, Illinois
Wabash County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 11,361. Its county seat is Mount Carmel. It is located in the southern portion of Illinois known locally as " Little Egypt".
...
. Some minor damage was recorded but the only visible effect was that Gibson Generating Station's Unit 4 deactivated itself because of its vibration detectors.
Environmental concerns
* The lake was closed for fishing in 2006 due to high
selenium
Selenium is a chemical element with the symbol Se and atomic number 34. It is a nonmetal (more rarely considered a metalloid) with properties that are intermediate between the elements above and below in the periodic table, sulfur and tellurium, ...
levels.
* In April 2006, Unit 4 accidentally released a blue haze that floated for a time over Mount Carmel, as emissions of
sulfuric acid
Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular formu ...
descended on the town, aggravating respiratory illnesses and prompting an investigation by the
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) of the state of Illinois is the primary body concerned with the protection of the environment for the state. The Illinois EPA's mission is "to safeguard environmental quality, consistent ...
.
* There have been undocumented concerns voiced as recently as September 2007 that the plant's ash disposal pits have been leaking
boron
Boron is a chemical element with the symbol B and atomic number 5. In its crystalline form it is a brittle, dark, lustrous metalloid; in its amorphous form it is a brown powder. As the lightest element of the ''boron group'' it has th ...
into the water tables of the area.
[http://indianalawblog.com/archives/2004/08/environment_gib.html Indiana Law Blog – Environment – Gibson Generating Plant Multi-Jurisdictional Issues 08/2004]
See also
*
List of largest power stations in the United States
This article lists the largest electrical generating stations in the United States in terms of current installed electrical capacity. Non-renewable power stations are those that run on coal, fuel oils, nuclear, natural gas, oil shale and peat, w ...
*
List of generating stations in Indiana
This is a list of electricity-generating power stations in the U.S. state of Indiana, sorted by type and name. In 2019, Indiana had a total summer capacity of 26,665 MW through all of its power plants, and a net generation of 102,505 GWh. The c ...
References
External links
Duke Energy – Gibson Generating Station
{{Duke Energy Indiana
Energy infrastructure completed in 1974
Energy infrastructure completed in 1975
Energy infrastructure completed in 1977
Energy infrastructure completed in 1978
Energy infrastructure completed in 1982
Buildings and structures in Gibson County, Indiana
Coal-fired power stations in Indiana
Towers in Indiana
Chimneys in the United States
Duke Energy
1974 establishments in Indiana