McIntosh Steam Plant
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McIntosh Steam Plant is an operating power station of at least 808-megawatts (MW) in Rincon, Effingham, Georgia, United States with multiple units, some of which are not currently operating. It is also known as Effingham Steam Plant.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| McIntosh Steam Plant | Rincon, Effingham, Georgia, United States | 32.356714, -81.167719 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the power station.
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- CT1, CT2, CT3, CT4, CT5, CT6, CT7, CT8, Unit 1: 32.356714, -81.167719
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | CHP | Start year | Retired year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CT1 | Operating[1] | fossil gas: natural gas, fossil liquids: fuel oil[2] | 101[1] | gas turbine[1] | no[1] | 1995[1] | – |
| CT2 | Operating[1] | fossil gas: natural gas, fossil liquids: fuel oil[2] | 101[1] | gas turbine[1] | no[1] | 1995[1] | – |
| CT3 | Operating[1] | fossil gas: natural gas, fossil liquids: fuel oil[2] | 101[1] | gas turbine[1] | no[1] | 1994[1] | – |
| CT4 | Operating[1] | fossil gas: natural gas, fossil liquids: fuel oil[2] | 101[1] | gas turbine[1] | no[1] | 1994[1] | – |
| CT5 | Operating[1] | fossil gas: natural gas, fossil liquids: fuel oil[2] | 101[1] | gas turbine[1] | no[1] | 1994[1] | – |
| CT6 | Operating[1] | fossil gas: natural gas, fossil liquids: fuel oil[2] | 101[1] | gas turbine[1] | no[1] | 1994[1] | – |
| CT7 | Operating[1] | fossil gas: natural gas, fossil liquids: fuel oil[2] | 101[1] | gas turbine[1] | no[1] | 1994[1] | – |
| CT8 | Operating[1] | fossil gas: natural gas, fossil liquids: fuel oil[2] | 101[1] | gas turbine[1] | no[1] | 1994[1] | – |
| Unit 1 | Retired | coal: bituminous | 177.6 | subcritical | – | 1979 | 2019 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| CT1 | Georgia Power Co [100%] | Southern Co [100.0%] |
| CT2 | Georgia Power Co [100%] | Southern Co [100.0%] |
| CT3 | Georgia Power Co [100%] | Southern Co [100.0%] |
| CT4 | Georgia Power Co [100%] | Southern Co [100.0%] |
| CT5 | Georgia Power Co [100%] | Southern Co [100.0%] |
| CT6 | Georgia Power Co [100%] | Southern Co [100.0%] |
| CT7 | Georgia Power Co [100%] | Southern Co [100.0%] |
| CT8 | Georgia Power Co [100%] | Southern Co [100.0%] |
| Unit 1 | Georgia Power Co [100%] | Southern Co [100.0%] |
Retirement
The sole 178 MW coal unit at the power station is planned for closure in 2019. The gas units at the power station will remain in operation.[3]
The coal-fired unit was retired in July 2019.[4]
Emissions Data
- 2006 CO2 Emissions: 868,039 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions:
- 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
- 2006 NOx Emissions:
- 2005 Mercury Emissions:
Coal Waste Site
Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from McIntosh Steam 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.[5] 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.[6]
Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from McIntosh Steam Plant
| Type of Impact | Annual Incidence | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 10 | $72,000,000 |
| Heart attacks | 14 | $1,500,000 |
| Asthma attacks | 160 | $9,000 |
| Hospital admissions | 7 | $170,000 |
| Chronic bronchitis | 6 | $2,700,000 |
| Asthma ER visits | 9 | $4,000 |
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011
Legislative issues
House Bill 276, proposed by Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), would put a 5-year moratorium on building new coal plants and eliminate the burning of Appalachian coal mined by mountaintop removal by mid-2016. The Appalachian Mountain Preservation Act would gradually prohibit Georgia coal consumers from using Central Appalachian mountaintop removal beginning in 2011. The bill is backed by environmental groups including Appalachian Voices but received strong opposition from POWER4Georgians, a coalition of 10 electric co-operatives seeking to build a $2 billion 850-megawatt supercritical coal plant in Washington County.[7][8]
Citizen groups
- CleanPower4Georgians
- Fall-line Alliance for Clean Environment
- Focus the Nation
- Friends of the Chattahoochee
- GreenLaw
- Sierra Club Georgia Chapter
- Co-op Conversations Georgia
- Cobb Alliance for Smart Energy
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 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.35 1.36 1.37 1.38 1.39 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 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 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) - ↑ "Georgia Power submits plan to close 865MW coal plant Hammond," Energy Central, February 12, 2019
- ↑ "Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory" eia.gov, 860m March 2020
- ↑ "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
- ↑ "Georgia bill proposes moratorium on new coal plants," Reuters, February 4, 2009.
- ↑ Margaret Newkirk, "Bill would restrict coal power plants," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 4, 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.
