Pleasant Prairie Power Plant
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Pleasant Prairie Power Plant was a 1.21-gigawatt (1,210 MW) coal power plant located in
Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin Pleasant Prairie is a village in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located in Kenosha County along the southwestern shoreline of Lake Michigan, Pleasant Prairie was home to 21,250 people at the 2020 census. The village is positioned directly south of ...
in
Kenosha County Kenosha County is located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 169,151 as of the 2020 census, making it the eighth most populous county in Wisconsin. The county shares the same name as the city of Kenosh ...
. In 2009, it was listed by the
U.S. Energy Information Administration The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and publ ...
(EIA) as the largest generating station in Wisconsin and generated roughly 13% of Wisconsin's electricity, burning around 13,000 tons of coal daily.


Background

The 30-year-old power plant has developed and applied a retrofit system that has helped reduce
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 ...
() by up to 90% and
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 ...
() by up to 95%. The Pleasant Prairie plant produces “8.6 million tons of annually – about as much as (that produced by) 1.7 million US cars”, according to ''The Wall Street Journal''. The plant uses experimental technology designed by French Alstom SA to separate carbon dioxide from the exhaust, and is seen as a proving ground for
clean coal technology Coal pollution mitigation, sometimes called clean coal, is a series of systems and technologies that seek to mitigate the health and environmental impact of coal; in particular air pollution from coal-fired power stations, and from coal burnt b ...
. The plant is owned by We Energies. In an effort to reduce
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 transpar ...
() emissions, the plant uses a chilled
ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous was ...
(NH3) process developed by Alstom. that captures up to 90% of carbon emissions as it escapes the
flue gas Flue gas is the gas exiting to the atmosphere via a flue, which is a pipe or channel for conveying exhaust gases from a fireplace, oven, furnace, boiler or steam generator. Quite often, the flue gas refers to the combustion exhaust gas produced a ...
. The demonstration project began in March 2008 and would last for two years. The America’s Power Factuality Tour stopped at the Pleasant Prairie Power Plant to report on its role in generating electricity in the United States in 2009. Pleasant Prairie received its coal from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. Most of it is sourced from the Cordero Rojo Mine. On November 28, 2017, WEC Energy Group announced that it would be closing the plant in 2018, pending permission from
Midcontinent Independent System Operator The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc., formerly named Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. (MISO) is an Independent System Operator (ISO) and Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) providing open-access transmissio ...
(MISO). WEC cited market forces such as cheaper natural gas and renewables for the plant's closure. Pleasant Prairie shut down on April 3, 2018. The plant is expected to cost $1 billion over the next 2 decades while saving $2.5 billion in avoided costs.


See also

{{Portal, Energy *
List of power stations in Wisconsin This is a list of electricity-generating power stations in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, sorted by type and name. In 2019, Wisconsin had a total summer capacity of 15,312 MW through all of its power plants, and a net generation of 66,774&nbs ...
*
Coal pollution mitigation Coal pollution mitigation, sometimes called clean coal, is a series of systems and technologies that seek to mitigate the health and environmental impact of coal; in particular air pollution from coal-fired power stations, and from coal burnt b ...


References


External links


Pleasant Prairie Power Plant (P4)
Energy infrastructure completed in 1980 Energy infrastructure completed in 1985 Buildings and structures in Kenosha County, Wisconsin Power stations in Wisconsin Former coal-fired power stations in the United States 1980 establishments in Wisconsin Former power stations in Wisconsin