Grand River Energy Center

From Global Energy Monitor

Grand River Energy Center is an operating power station of at least 1194-megawatts (MW) in Chouteau, Mayes, Oklahoma, United States with multiple units, some of which are not currently operating. It is also known as GRDA Plant, GREC, Chouteau Plant.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Grand River Energy Center Chouteau, Mayes, Oklahoma, United States 36.188703, -95.289033 (exact)[1]

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

Loading map...


Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

  • 1, 3, 4, Unit 1, Unit 2: 36.188703, -95.289033

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology CHP Start year Retired year
1 Retired[2] fossil gas: natural gas[3] 540[3] steam turbine[3] no[3] 1981[3] 2020[2]
3 Operating[3] fossil gas: natural gas[3] 600[3] combined cycle[3] no[3] 2017[3]
4 Pre-construction[4][1] fossil gas: natural gas[4] 433[4][1] gas turbine[4][1] [5] 2026 (planned)[6][4][1]
Unit 1 Retired coal: subbituminous 540 subcritical 1981 2017
Unit 2 Operating coal: subbituminous 594 subcritical 1985 2026 (planned)[7]

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 Grand River Dam Authority [100%][8] Grand River Dam Authority [100.0%]
3 Grand River Dam Authority [100%][8] Grand River Dam Authority [100.0%]
4
Unit 1 Grand River Dam Authority [100%] Grand River Dam Authority [100.0%]
Unit 2 Grand River Dam Authority [100%] Grand River Dam Authority [100.0%]

Coal-to-Gas Conversion

GRDA started construction of a new 495MW combined cycle gas turbine unit at the site in January 2015 at an estimated cost of $296 million. The new gas unit is expected to start operations in March 2017, at which time unit 1 will retire. Unit two will be retrofitted to control emissions in accordance with EPA standards by 2016.[9]

In April 2017, the US DOE allowed Unit 1 of Grand River Energy Center to keep running until unit 3 was brought online "to ensure grid reliability", as unit 2 was offline for repairs.[10][11][12][13]

Due to delays in building Unit 3 and a fire which severely damaged and incapacitated Unit 2, GRDA officials did not take unit 1 offline until late 2018. In August 2019, GRDA voted to decommission the unit.[14]

According to reporting from August and October 2023, GRDA was planning to replace the coal-fired Unit 2 with a 420 MW gas unit (Unit 4).[15][16]

In October 2023, Mitsubishi Power andGRDA signed an agreement to provide an advanced class gas turbine to the Grand River Energy Center. It will be the first M501JAC gas turbine to operate in simple cycle in the U.S. Unit 4 will replace the last remaining coal-fired unit at the Grand River Energy Center. This is the second project the GRDA has awarded to Mitsubishi Power for its Grand River Energy Center in the last 10 years. The first-ever J-series advanced gas turbine to operate in the U.S. is located at the Center’s Unit 3 project, a 500-MW gas turbine combined cycle power station that began operations in 2017. The construction of Unit 4 was planned to begin in January 2024, with the unit expected to be operational by April 2026. The Unit 4 gas turbine is also hydrogen-capable and can be adapted in the future to operate on a blend or 100% hydrogen.[17] As of June 2024, the project is in the process of seeking regulatory approvals.[18]

Emissions Data

  • 2006 CO2 Emissions: 7,625,549 tons
  • 2006 SO2 Emissions: 16,801 tons
  • 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
  • 2006 NOx Emissions: 14,783 tons
  • 2005 Mercury Emissions: 355 lb.

Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Chouteau 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.[19] 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.[20]

Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Chouteau Plant

Type of Impact Annual Incidence Valuation
Deaths 64 $470,000,000
Heart attacks 97 $11,000,000
Asthma attacks 1,100 $57,000
Hospital admissions 46 $1,100,000
Chronic bronchitis 39 $17,000,000
Asthma ER visits 70 $26,000

Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011

Citizen groups

Articles and Resources

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 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. 2.0 2.1 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)
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 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)
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 https://web.archive.org/web/20240112192933/https://www.powermag.com/?static_page=part-single&offset=0&postid=207824&widgetload=1. Archived from the original on 12 January 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. https://web.archive.org/web/20221028021258/https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860/. Archived from the original on 28 October 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20240607182848/https://power.mhi.com/regions/amer/news/100323. Archived from the original on 07 June 2024. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archive-date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. https://web.archive.org/web/20240207001615/https://www.claremoreprogress.com/news/grda-to-close-last-coal-fired-plant/article_9e7061d4-639e-11ee-93f0-8b2e3dedee6c.html. Archived from the original on 07 February 2024. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archive-date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. 8.0 8.1 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)
  9. "Grand River Energy Center, Oklahoma - Power Technology," Power Technology, January 2015
  10. "DOE Issues First-Ever Emergency Order to Keep Open a Unit That Is Noncompliant with MATS," Power, 04/20/2017
  11. "Order No. 202-17-1," US DOE, Apr 14, 2017
  12. "GRDA dedicates $500 million power generation plant," Tulsa World, Oct 27, 2017
  13. Form EIA-860 Data - Schedule 3, 'Generator Data' US EIA, 2018
  14. "GRDA board votes to decommission 41-year-old coal-fired unit," PowerEng, 8.16.19
  15. "Grand River Dam Authority looks to replace its last coal-fired generator with a new $410 million project," The Frontier, August 9, 2023
  16. "GRDA to close last coal-fired plant," The Claremore Daily Progress, October 11, 2023
  17. "Mitsubishi Power Selected to Supply Second Advanced Class Gas Turbine to Oklahoma's Grand River Energy Center". power.mhi.com. October 4, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. "Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860)". EIA. May 23, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
  20. "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.