Gadsden Steam Plant
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Gadsden Steam Plant is a retired power station in Gadsden, Alabama, United States.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Gadsden Steam Plant | Gadsden, Alabama, United States | 34.009396, -85.967952 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the power station.
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- 1, 2, Unit 1, Unit 2: 34.009396, -85.967952
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | CHP | Start year | Retired year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Retired[1] | fossil gas: natural gas[2] | 69[2] | steam turbine[2] | yes[2] | 2015[3] | 2023[1] |
| 2 | Retired[1] | fossil gas: natural gas[2] | 69[2] | steam turbine[2] | yes[2] | 2015[3] | 2023[1] |
| Unit 1 | Retired | coal: unknown | 69 | unknown | – | 1949 | 2016 |
| Unit 2 | Retired | coal: unknown | 69 | unknown | – | 1949 | 2016 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Power Co [100%] | Southern Co [100.0%] |
| 2 | Alabama Power Co [100%] | Southern Co [100.0%] |
| Unit 1 | Alabama Power Co [100%] | Southern Co [100.0%] |
| Unit 2 | Alabama Power Co [100%] | Southern Co [100.0%] |
Unit Retirement
The plant's two coal-burning units were converted to using natural gas only in 2015.[4]
Fuel
The Gadsden plant has the capability to produce steam and electricity using coal or natural gas, or both, and by 2011 was using mainly natural gas. The plant also was an experimental site for burning wood biomass and switch grass fuels, but as of 2012 the plant does not burn biomass.[5]
Gadsden Steam Plant and Environmental Justice
Southern Company's Gadsden Steam Plant has 24,955 residents within a 3-mile radius and 3,487 within a one-mile radius; in the 3-mile radius, 49.9% of residents are non-white with a per capita income of $13,600, below the U.S. per capita income of $21,587,[6] raising issues around environmental justice and coal. The plant does not have a scrubber to reduce emissions.[7] Gadsden Steam Plant is among over 100 coal plants near residential areas.
Emissions Data
- 2006 CO2 Emissions: 764,053 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions: 9,344 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
- 2006 NOx Emissions:
- 2005 Mercury Emissions:
Coal Waste Site
Gadsden ranked 93rd on list of most polluting power plants in terms of coal waste
In January 2009, Sue Sturgis of the Institute of Southern Studies compiled a list of the 100 most polluting coal plants in the United States in terms of coal combustion waste (CCW) stored in surface impoundments like the one involved in the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill.[8] The data came from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) for 2006, the most recent year available.[9]
Gadsden Steam Plant ranked number 93 on the list, with 249,740 pounds of coal combustion waste released to surface impoundments in 2006.[8]
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 https://web.archive.org/web/20230918190319/https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860m/archive/xls/may_generator2023.xlsx. Archived from the original on 18 September 2023.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 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) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://www.alabamanewscenter.com/about-us/press-releases/federal-environmental-mandates-force-elimination-of-coal-at-plant-gadsden/.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "Federal environmental mandates force elimination of coal at Plant Gadsden - Alabama NewsCenter". Alabama NewsCenter. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
- ↑ Dana Beyerle, "Alabama Power's switch to natural gas an asset for Goodyear," Times Montgomery Bureau, December 19, 2011.
- ↑ United States - Income and Poverty in 1999: 2000, U.S. Census Bureau, 2000.
- ↑ Clean Air Markets - Data and Maps, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2009.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Sue Sturgis, "Coal's ticking timebomb: Could disaster strike a coal ash dump near you?," Institute for Southern Studies, January 4, 2009.
- ↑ TRI Explorer, EPA, accessed January 2009.
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.
