H. Wilson Sundt Generating Station

From Global Energy Monitor

H. Wilson Sundt Generating Station is an operating power station of at least 475-megawatts (MW) in Tucson, Pima, Arizona, United States. It is also known as Irvington Generating Station.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
H. Wilson Sundt Generating Station Tucson, Pima, Arizona, United States 32.159761, -110.905125 (exact)

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

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

  • IC, ST3, Unit 4: 32.159761, -110.905125

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology CHP Start year Retired year
IC Operating[1] fossil gas: natural gas[1] 188[1] internal combustion[1] no[1] 2020[1]
ST3 Operating[2] fossil gas: natural gas[2] 114[2] steam turbine[2] no[2] 1962[2]
Unit 4, timepoint 1 Retired coal: subbituminous 173.3 subcritical no[2] 1967 2015
Unit 4, timepoint 2 Operating[2] fossil gas: natural gas, bioenergy: refuse (landfill gas)[3] 173.3[2] steam turbine[2] no[2] 2015[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
IC Tucson Electric Power Co [100%][1] Fortis Inc [100.0%]
ST3 Tucson Electric Power Co [100%][5] Fortis Inc [100.0%]
Unit 4, timepoint 1 Tucson Electric Power Co [100%] Fortis Inc [100.0%]
Unit 4, timepoint 2 Tucson Electric Power Co [100%] Fortis Inc [100.0%]

Unit-level fuel conversion details:

Unit 4: Converted from coal to fossil gas in 2015.

Unit Retirement

The coal plant was taken offline in 2015, after being found to be out of compliance with the Clean Air Act in 2013.[6] The unit was converted to natural gas and is still in operation.[7]

Emissions Data

  • 2006 CO2 Emissions: 1,067,132 tons
  • 2006 SO2 Emissions:
  • 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
  • 2006 NOx Emissions:
  • 2005 Mercury Emissions:

Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from H. Wilson Sundt

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.[8] 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.[9]

Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from H. Wilson Sundt Generating Station

Type of Impact Annual Incidence Valuation
Deaths 4 $26,000,000
Heart attacks 6 $600,000
Asthma attacks 68 $4,000
Hospital admissions 3 $59,000
Chronic bronchitis 2 $1,100,000
Asthma ER visits 3 $1,000

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

Articles and Resources

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 https://web.archive.org/web/20240204144749/https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860/xls/eia8602022.zip. Archived from the original on 04 February 2024. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archive-date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 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. 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)
  4. https://web.archive.org/web/20240309053032/https://www.tep.com/news/tep-to-end-use-of-coal-switch-primarily-to-natural-gas-at-tucson-power-plant/. Archived from the original on 09 March 2024. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archive-date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. 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)
  6. "H. Wilson Sundt Generating Station Stops Burning Coal," Sierra Club, Sep 28, 2015
  7. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named eia
  8. "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
  9. "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.