Warrior Run Generating Station, owned by the

AES Corporation The AES Corporation is an American utility and power generation company. It owns and operates power plants, which it uses to generate and sell electricity to end users and intermediaries like utilities and industrial facilities. AES is headquart ...

, is a 205

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

cogeneration Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elec ...

plant located south of Cumberland,

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 ...

, at 11600 Mexico Farms Road. In addition to electric power, the plant also produces food-grade

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is trans ...

Design and operation

The plant uses

fluidized bed combustion Fluidized bed combustion (FBC) is a combustion technology used to burn solid fuels. In its most basic form, fuel particles are suspended in a hot, bubbling fluidity bed of ash and other particulate materials (sand, limestone etc.) through which ...

(FBC) technology, in which bituminous coal and finely ground

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 ...

are injected, using air, into the boiler. Air keeps the limestone and coal suspended in a fluid-like condition. The limestone reacts with sulfur dioxide, released during combustion of the coal, removing this pollutant from the plant's emissions. With the enhanced sulfur dioxide removal due to the FBC technology, Warrior Run can burn approximately of coal from Maryland each year, which tends to be of a higher sulfur content. During 2007, 100 percent of the coal burned at Warrior Run was mined in Maryland. The FBC boiler operates at a lower temperature compared to other coal-fired boiler technology, reducing production of

nitrogen oxides 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 ...

. Injection of ammonia and a

selective non-catalytic reduction Selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) is a method to lessen nitrogen oxide emissions in conventional power plants that burn biomass, incineration, waste and coal. The process involves injecting either ammonia or urea into the firebox of the boil ...

system are also used to remove nitrogen oxides. A

baghouse A baghouse, also known as a baghouse filter, bag filter, or fabric filter is an air pollution control device and dust collector that removes particulates or gas released from commercial processes out of the air. Power plants, steel mills, pharmaceu ...

removes

particulate Particulates – also known as atmospheric aerosol particles, atmospheric particulate matter, particulate matter (PM) or suspended particulate matter (SPM) – are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. The te ...

s from the plant's air emissions. Water used by the plant is supplied by the City of Cumberland water system. Fly and bottom ash from Warrior Run, which is highly alkaline due to the limestone used by the FBC boiler, is used as fill at four nearby surface coal mines. The plant produces about of ash each year.

Warrior Run surcharge

Warrior Run became operational on February 10, 2000. As provided by the

Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act The Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA, ) is a United States Act passed as part of the National Energy Act. It was meant to promote energy conservation (reduce demand) and promote greater use of domestic energy and renewable energy (inc ...

of 1978, the local utility, the Potomac Edison Company, which is a unit of FirstEnergy, is required to purchase the electric output of Warrior Run at its "avoided cost" rate under a contract for thirty years. However, this "avoided cost" rate, which was determined at the time of the contract, is higher than the current wholesale price of electricity, so Potomac Edison recovers the difference in this price through a surcharge on the bills of its customers. This surcharge will end in April 2030. In 2007 the

Maryland Public Service Commission The Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) is an independent administrative agency within the state government which regulates public utilities and certain taxi cab and other passenger services in Maryland. Similar to other state public utilities ...

approved a plan permitting the Warrior Run electric output to be sold into 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 ...

day-ahead wholesale market and the capacity bid into the PJM forward capacity market, with the proceeds used to reduce the surcharge.

Case No. 8797
Order No. 81725
(Nov. 28, 2007).

References

External links

Photograph of AES Warrior Run generator
{{Power stations in Maryland Energy infrastructure completed in 2000 Buildings and structures in Allegany County, Maryland Coal-fired power stations in Maryland Cogeneration power stations in the United States

Design and operation

Warrior Run surcharge

See also

References

External links