The R. Gallagher Generating Station was a four-unit
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 along the
Ohio River some two miles (3 km) downstream from
New Albany, Indiana in southernmost
Floyd County, Indiana
Floyd County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. Its county seat is New Albany. Floyd County has the second-smallest land area in the entire state. It was formed in the year 1819 from neighboring Clark, and Harrison counties.
F ...
. The total aggregate capacity (year-around) of the plant's four identical units was 560
MW. Unit 2 began operating in 1958; unit 1 in 1959; unit 3 in 1960 and unit 4 in 1961. In early 2012, both Units 1 and 3 were retired. Units 2 and 4 continued to operate because Duke Energy installed baghouses, greatly reducing the pollution and meeting the current standards set by the EPA. The plant's 2012 output was 280 megawatts (each unit is rated at 140 megawatts). The plant is connected to the grid by 138 and 230 kilovolt transmission lines.
Environmental impact
Sulphur dioxide emissions
As of 2006, R. Gallagher was the
dirtiest major power station in the US in terms of
sulphur dioxide gas emission rate: it discharged of SO
2 for each
MWh of
electric power produced that year (50,819 tons of SO
2 per year in total).
Shutdown and Plant Closure
Duke Energy shutdown the plant on June 1, 2021, earlier than the previously scheduled retirement in 2022. After shutdown Duke Energy will continue the process of closing coal ash basins on site, which could take several years. The Gallagher plant is expected to be dismantled at some point in the future.
See also
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List of power 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 ...
*
Global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
References
External links
ProfileView of the plant from the Ohio River
Energy infrastructure completed in 1958
Energy infrastructure completed in 1959
Energy infrastructure completed in 1960
Energy infrastructure completed in 1961
Buildings and structures in New Albany, Indiana
Coal-fired power stations in Indiana
Duke Energy
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