Cope Station
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Cope Station is an operating power station of at least 417-megawatts (MW) in Cope, Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Cope Station | Cope, Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States | 33.364769, -81.032092 (exact)[1] |
The map below shows the exact location of the power station.
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- Unit 1: 33.364769, -81.032092
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | CHP | Start year | Retired year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1, timepoint 1 | Operating | coal: bituminous | 417.3 | subcritical | no[2] | 1996 | 2031 (planned)[3] |
| Unit 1, timepoint 2 | Announced[4] | fossil gas: natural gas[5][4] | 417.3[2] | steam turbine[1][4] | no[2] | 2031 (planned)[3][4] | 2071 (planned)[5] |
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 1, timepoint 1 | Dominion Energy South Carolina Inc [100%][4] | Dominion Energy Inc |
| Unit 1, timepoint 2 | Dominion Energy South Carolina Inc [100%][4] | Dominion Energy Inc |
Unit-level fuel conversion details:
Unit 1: Announced conversion from coal to fossil gas in 2031.
Ownership
The plant was owned by SCANA. In January 2019, SCANA was acquired by Dominion.[6]
Background
While the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA 2019) lists the nameplate capacity of the plant as 417.3 MW,[7] on its website (2020) Dominion lists the capacity of the plant as 430 MW.[8] In 2019, the facility added the ability to be able to burn in addition to coal[7]. The EIA (2023) lists the plant as gas-fired, however, the company mentioned that the plant would cease burning coal at the facility only by 2030.[9] According to Ashtracker, developed by Environmental Integrity Project, there are currently no plans in place to close the ash landfill or the coal-fired unit.[10]
In their 2023 Integrated Resource Plan, Dominion Energy South Carolina stated, "DESC remains committed to retiring coal-only units by the end of 2030 but decided for planning purposes to assume that Cope remains dual-fuel capable until 2031."[11]
According to the Dominion Energy's 2024 Integrated Resource Plan, the power station operates on coal as its primary fuel source, but is also capable of operating on gas. The "probable retirement" year is listed as 2071. The conversion to gas is not mentioned in the document.[12]
Emissions Data
- 2006 CO2 Emissions: 3,587,191 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions: 2,603 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
- 2006 NOx Emissions: 4,551 tons
- 2005 Mercury Emissions: 39 lb.
Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Cope Station
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.[13] 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.[14]
Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Cope Station
| Type of Impact | Annual Incidence | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 6 | $45,000,000 |
| Heart attacks | 9 | $940,000 |
| Asthma attacks | 100 | $5,000 |
| Hospital admissions | 4 | $100,000 |
| Chronic bronchitis | 4 | $1,700,000 |
| Asthma ER visits | 6 | $2,000 |
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011
Citizen groups
- Coastal Conservation League
- Conservation Voters of South Carolina
- Sierra Club South Carolina Chapter
- South Carolina Wildlife Federation
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 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 https://web.archive.org/web/20220712171434/https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860m/xls/april_generator2022.xlsx. Archived from the original on 12 July 2022.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20240219021321/https://www.dominionenergy.com/-/media/pdfs/global/company/desc-2023-integrated-resource-plan.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2024.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 https://web.archive.org/web/20220709063659/https://www.postandcourier.com/news/dominion-sc-plans-to-retire-coal-plants-by-2030-but-would-mostly-rely-on-natural/article_331336b6-75e7-11eb-9b24-2bbb113404d9.html. Archived from the original on 09 July 2022.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|archive-date=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20240614171605/https://dms.psc.sc.gov/Attachments/Matter/3a27d786-346f-45cd-8a5a-05471ee1cedb. Archived from the original on 14 June 2024.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "Dominion completes buyout of SCANA after 17-month nuclear fiasco". thestate. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 860, EIA, 2019ER
- ↑ "Coal Generation: Our plants" Dominion Energy website, accessed June 2020
- ↑ "Dominion SC plans to retire coal plants by 2030 but would mostly rely on natural gas," The Post and Courier, February 23, 2021
- ↑ "Cope Generating Station". Ashtracker. Ocotber 20, 2022. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "2023 Integrated Resource Plan," Dominion Energy South Carolina, August 4, 2023
- ↑ "Integrated Resource Plan 2024 Update". Dominion Energy. March 28, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "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.
