AES Greenidge power station
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AES Greenidge power station is an operating power station of at least 115-megawatts (MW) in Dresden, Yates, New York, United States with multiple units, some of which are not currently operating. It is also known as Greenidge Generating Station.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| AES Greenidge power station | Dresden, Yates, New York, United States | 42.679135, -76.948604 (exact)[1] |
The map below shows the exact location of the power station.
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- Unit 3, Unit 4: 42.679135, -76.948604
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | CHP | Start year | Retired year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 3 | Retired | coal: bituminous | 50 | subcritical | – | 1950 | 2009 |
| Unit 4, timepoint 1 | Retired | coal: bituminous | 115 | subcritical | no[2] | 1953 | 2011 |
| Unit 4, timepoint 2 | Operating[2] | fossil gas: natural gas, bioenergy: unknown[3] | 115[2] | steam turbine[2] | no[2] | 2016[2][4] | – |
CHP is an abbreviation for Combined Heat and Power. It is a technology that produces electricity and thermal energy at high efficiencies. Coal units track this information in the Captive Use section when known.
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner | Parent |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 3 | Greenidge Generation Holdings LLC [100%][1] | Atlas Holdings LLC [100.0%] |
| Unit 4, timepoint 1 | Greenidge Generation Holdings LLC [100%][1] | Atlas Holdings LLC [100.0%] |
| Unit 4, timepoint 2 | Greenidge Generation Holdings LLC [100%][1] | Atlas Holdings LLC [100.0%] |
Unit-level fuel conversion details:
Unit 4: Converted from coal to fossil gas in 2016.
Background
Originally built in 1937 by the New York State Electric and Gas Corporation (NYSEG) to burn coal, the Greenidge power station produced coal fired electricity until its closure in 2011. Since 1999, the plant has been owned and operated by AES Corporation. At one time, the Greenidge Power consisted of six coal-fired boilers, which provided steam to power four turbine generators. The plant had a generating capacity of over 200 megawatts. In 1985, two turbine generators and three boilers were taken out of service. In 2009, another turbine and boiler were also taken out of service.
In 2011, citing high fuel costs and decreased demand for electricity, the owners, AES Greenidge, declared bankruptcy and shut down the Greenidge power station.[5][6][7] The plant was inactive from 2011 until 2016, when it was purchased by Atlas Holdings (as Greenidge Generation LLC), and converted to burn natural gas.
In 2019, after poor profitability as a gas burning facility, the plant's new owners began mining bitcoin with some of the power generated at the site. By March of 2020, the site was using 14 MW; by October of 2021, it was up to 44 MW; by the end of 2022, Greenidge hopes to be utilizing 85 of the plant's total capacity of 106 MW for bitcoin mining.[5] Greenidge has also announced plans to scale Bitcoin mining to 500 MW by 2025 by "replicat[ing] its vertically integrated mining model" with new generation sources.[8]
In August 2022, the plant was operating to plan as a cryptocurrency farm. Local opposition was increasing because of poor pollution controls on the mining operation. The plant also faced significant legacy pollution, and it was first on the list of coal ash sites that were potentially situated below the water table. Should the ash be left in place, the plant would be in violation of federal rules.[9]
Ownership
In 1999, AES purchased six power plants in New York (including the Greenidge power station) from NGE Generation, Inc. for $953 million.[10] The other stations included in the deal were AES Somerset, AES Cayuga, AES Westover, AES Hickling, and AES Jennison.[10]
In March 2011 AES announced it wanted to sell four of its New York coal plants, including Greenidge. The other plants included AES Cayuga, AES Westover and AES Somerset. [11]
In 2016, Atlas Holdings, through its subsidiary - Greenidge Generation LLC, purchased the power plant in and converted it to run on natural gas.[12]
Emissions Data
- 2006 CO2 Emissions: 780,467 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions:
- 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
- 2006 NOx Emissions:
- 2005 Mercury Emissions:
The following table gives more info on this plant's SO2 emissions levels, as well as on whatever SO2 emissions "scrubbers" (Flue Gas Desulfurization units, or FGDs) have been installed at the plant. Each of the plant's units is listed separately, and at the bottom overall data for the plant is listed.[13][14]
| Unit # | Year Built | Capacity | MWh Produced (2005) | SO2 Emissions (2005) | SO2 Emissions per MWh (2005) | Average Annual Coal Sulfur Content | FGD Unit Type | FGD In-Service Year | FGD SO2 Removal Efficiency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1950 | 50 MW | 223,897 MWh | 4,110 tons | 36.71 lb./MWh | 2.14% | none installed | ||
| 4 | 1953 | 113 MW | 665,481 MWh | 10,244 tons | 30.79 lb./MWh | 2.03% | none installed | ||
| Total | 163 MW | 889,378 MWh | 14,354 tons | 32.28 lb./MWh |
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 https://web.archive.org/web/20230509053328/https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860m/. Archived from the original on 09 May 2023.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|archive-date=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 https://web.archive.org/web/20200612191408/https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860m/archive/xls/november_generator2019.xlsx. Archived from the original on 12 June 2020.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20211122185052/https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860m/archive/xls/july_generator2021.xlsx. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20220829065411/https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/123048.html. Archived from the original on 29 August 2022.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 "How bitcoin makes burning fossil fuels more profitable than ever". Bulletin of the Atomic Sciences. 7/11/2022. Retrieved 7/20/2022.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|access-date=and|date=(help) - ↑ "NYSEG Greenidge Power Plant," Dresden Mesothelioma Attorney, Aug 18, 2011
- ↑ "Greenidge plant goes dark in Torrey". Penn Yan Chronicle-Express. Gatehouse Media. 2011-03-24.
- ↑ "500 MW of Mining Capacity by the Year 2025". Bitcoin.com. 3/22/2021. Retrieved 7/20/2022.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|access-date=and|date=(help) - ↑ "In the Finger Lakes, a cryptocurrency mining plant billed as ‘green’ has a dirty coal ash problem" Energy News Network, August 25, 2022.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "AES completes acquistion of six power plants in New York with total capacity of 1424 MW", Business Wire via High Beam Research, May 14, 1999.
- ↑ "AES to sell four New York coal plants" Reuters, March, 4, 2011.
- ↑ "Greenidge Generating Station - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation". Archived from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
- ↑ Coal Power Plant Database, National Energy Technology Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy, 2007.
- ↑ EIA-767, Energy Information Administration, 2005.
Additional data
To access additional data, including interactive maps of the power stations, downloadable datasets, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker and the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
