Belle River Power Plant
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Belle River Power Plant is an operating power station of at least 1650-megawatts (MW) in China, St Clair, Michigan, United States.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Belle River Power Plant | China, St Clair, Michigan, United States | 42.775292, -82.494311 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the power station.
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- 12-1, 12-2, 13-1, Unit 1, Unit 2: 42.775292, -82.494311
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | CHP | Start year | Retired year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12-1 | Operating[1] | fossil gas: natural gas[1] | 85[1] | gas turbine[1] | no[1] | 1999[1] | – |
| 12-2 | Operating[1] | fossil gas: natural gas[1] | 85[1] | gas turbine[1] | no[1] | 1999[1] | – |
| 13-1 | Operating[1] | fossil gas: natural gas[1] | 85[1] | gas turbine[1] | no[1] | 1999[1] | – |
| Unit 1 | Operating | coal: subbituminous | 697.5 | subcritical | – | 1984 | 2025 (planned)[2][3] |
| Unit 2 | Operating | coal: subbituminous | 697.5 | subcritical | – | 1985 | 2026 (planned)[2][3] |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 12-1 | DTE Electric Co [100%][4] | DTE Electric Co [100.0%] |
| 12-2 | DTE Electric Co [100%][4] | DTE Electric Co [100.0%] |
| 13-1 | DTE Electric Co [100%][4] | DTE Electric Co [100.0%] |
| Unit 1 | Michigan Public Power Agency [18%]; DTE Electric Co [81%] | DTE Electric Co [81.4%]; Michigan Public Power Agency [18.6%] |
| Unit 2 | Michigan Public Power Agency [18%]; DTE Electric Co [81%] | DTE Electric Co [81.4%]; Michigan Public Power Agency [18.6%] |
Unit Retirements
In May 2017, DTE said it would retire its Belle River Power Plant in 2030 and its Monroe Power Plant in 2040.[5]
According to the EIA 860 database, Unit 1 was planned retire in 2029 and Unit 2 in 2030.[6]
In 2021, the plant was expected to cease use of coal in 2028, two years earlier than planned.[7]
In their 2022 Integrated Resource Plan, DTE moved their planned coal exit date at Belle River from 2028 to 2026. The coal plant would be converted to a gas peaker plant, with Unit 1 being converted in 2025 and Unit 2 being converted in 2026.[8]
In July 2023, DTE Electric reached a settlement agreement that confirmed Belle River's gas conversion by 2026.[9]
Ownership
MPPA has a 37.22% ownership share in Unit 1 according to its own website with entitlement to 19% of output from both units.[10] DTE stated the same in their SEC 10-k filing over 2019[11] EIA stated both units as a joint ownership based on the way the power output from both units is devided.[12]
Coal Supply
The Belle River Power Plant uses a shared coal facility with the St. Clair Power Plant located just to the east of their location. In the EIA 923 database their shared coal facility is stated as BRSC Shared Storage (plant id 8841), a abbreviation for Belle River Saint Clair Shared Storage. Both power plants also have their own seperate coal storage that would allow delivert directly from coal suppliers.[13]
Unlined coal ash dam
In January 2023, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the refusal of applications from six coal-fired power stations to dispose of coal ash in unlined dams. The EPA stated that the utilities operating the power stations failed to demonstrate how they would meet groundwater protection regulations. The impacted power stations were Belle River Power Plant, Coal Creek Station, Conemaugh Generating Station, Coronado Generating Station, Martin Lake Steam Station and Monroe Power Plant.[14]
Emissions Data
- 2006 CO2 Emissions: 8,797,833 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions: 24,128 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
- 2006 NOx Emissions: 7,565 tons
- 2005 Mercury Emissions: 276 lb.
Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Belle River Power Plant
In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to fine particle pollution from coal-fired power plants.[15] Fine particle pollution consists of a complex mixture of soot, heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Among these particles, the most dangerous are those less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and pneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal plant emissions. These deaths and illnesses are major examples of coal's external costs, i.e. uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large. Low-income and minority populations are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities. To monetize the health impact of fine particle pollution from each coal plant, Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.[16]
Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Belle River Power Plant
| Type of Impact | Annual Incidence | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 59 | $430,000,000 |
| Heart attacks | 96 | $10,000,000 |
| Asthma attacks | 930 | $48,000 |
| Hospital admissions | 44 | $1,000,000 |
| Chronic bronchitis | 35 | $16,000,000 |
| Asthma ER visits | 49 | $18,000 |
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 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) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20240611163642/https://www.utilitydive.com/news/dte-electric-coal-plant-retirements-renewable-storage-agreement-psc-irp/686917/. Archived from the original on 11 June 2024.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20240617211336/https://dtecleanenergy.com/downloads/IRP_Executive_Summary.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 June 2024.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 https://web.archive.org/web/20191116210428/https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860m/archive/xls/december_generator2018.xlsx. Archived from the original on 16 November 2019.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "DTE to shut coal plants, cut carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050," Reuters, May 16, 2017
- ↑ "EIA 860m July 2020" EIA.gov, 860m database, accessed October 25, 2020.
- ↑ "DTE Belle River Power Plant to cease use of coal in 2028, two years earlier than planned," Times Herald, October 14, 2021
- ↑ "Summary - 2022 DTE Electric Integrated Resource Plan," DTE Electric, November 2022
- ↑ "DTE Electric agrees to speed Michigan coal plant retirements, renewable and energy storage buildout," Utility Dive, July 13, 2023
- ↑ "Belle River Unit No.1" Mpower.org. accessed October 25, 2020
- ↑ "DTE Energy Company 10-K filing, page 100" annualreports.com, accessed October 25, 2020
- ↑ "EIA 860 2018" EIA.gov, 860 database, accessed October 25, 2020.
- ↑ "EIA 923 July 2020" EIA 923 July 2020.
- ↑ "EPA Announces Latest Actions to Protect Groundwater and Communities from Coal Ash Contamination," United States Environmental Protection Agency, January 25, 2023
- ↑ "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
- ↑ "Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool," Prepared for the Clean Air Task Force by Abt Associates, July 2010
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.
