Brunner Island Steam Electric Station

Brunner Island Steam Electric Station is a coal-fired electrical generation facility in York County, Pennsylvania. It occupies most of the area of the eponymous island on Susquehanna River. The power plant has three major units, which came online in 1961, 1965, and 1969, with respective generating capacities of 334 MW, 390 MW, and 759 MW (in winter conditions). In addition, three internal combustion generators (2.8 MWe each) were installed in 1967.[1] Talen Energy will stop coal use at the plant in 2025.[2]

Brunner Island Steam Electric Station
CountryUnited States
LocationEast Manchester Township, York County, near York Haven, Pennsylvania
Coordinates40°05′44″N 76°41′49″W
StatusOperational
Commission dateUnit 1: June, 1961
Unit 2: October, 1965
Unit 3: June, 1969
Owner(s)Talen Energy
Thermal power station
Primary fuelBituminous coal
Cooling sourceSusquehanna River
Cooling Tower (since 2009)
Power generation
Units operational3
Nameplate capacity1567 MWe
Aerial view from the north of the Susquehanna River at Bainbridge, Pennsylvania, (on left bank), with the Brunner Island Steam Electric Station (on right bank island)

Environmental impact

PPL, the owner of the plant at the time, announced in 2005 that it would begin to install scrubbers at the plant and that installation would be complete by 2009. The scrubbers, PPL says, are intended to annually remove 100,000 tons of sulfur.[3] The facility was cited as one of several facilities in the region by a USA Today study of air quality around area schools as a potential source of significant pollutants.[4] Fly ash from the Brunner Island facility is approved for use in construction projects, especially for "use in concrete mixes to reduce alkali silica reactivity of aggregate." [5]

Sulphur dioxide emissions

In 2006, Brunner Island ranked 27th on the list of most-polluting major power station in the US in terms of sulphur dioxide gas emission rate: it discharged 20.49 pounds (9.29 kg) of SO2 for each MWh of electric power produced that year (93,545 tons of SO2 per year in total).[6] Scrubbers began operation in 2009, removing about 90-percent of sulfur dioxide emissions, and they reduce mercury emissions.[7][8] They spray a mixture of crushed limestone and water onto the exhaust gas before it goes out the plant's chimney. Sulfur reacts with the limestone and water in the plant's exhaust, forming synthetic gypsum. This is collected and shipped to a drywall manufacturing company.[9][10]

Waste heat

Brunner Island discharges all of its waste heat (about 1.44 times its electrical output) into its brand new cooling towers as of 2009.

Conversion to Natural Gas

As part of a 2018 out-of-court settlement with the Sierra Club, which had previously sued the plant and its current owner, Talen Energy, over air and water pollution, Brunner Island will eventually completely phase out coal. By 2023, Brunner Island will stop burning coal from May to September, which is considered peak smog season. By 2028, the facility will have completely switched over to natural gas.[11]

See also

References
  1. "Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2006" (Excel). Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy. 2006. Retrieved July 14, 2008.
  2. "Sierra Club and Stoney Beach Association statements on Talen Energy's commitment to stop burning coal by the end of 2025". Sierra Club. November 10, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 3, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) PPL Brunner Island – York Haven, PA.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 8, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Crable, Ad. "EPA orders Pa. to test for toxic air near schools" March 4, 2009
  5. (staff) (August 30, 2015). "Qualified Products List for Construction" (PDF). Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  6. "Dirty Kilowatts 2007 Report Database". Environmental Integrity Project. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved May 2008. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  7. "Shaw Completes Air Quality Control Retrofit at Brunner Island Power Plant". www.businesswire.com. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  8. "Scrubbing up nicely". www.powerengineeringint.com. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  9. (Staff) (August 14, 2008). "Brunner Island Power Plant" (PDF). U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  10. "Scrubbing up nicely". www.powerengineeringint.com. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  11. "Much Criticized Brunner Island Phasing out coal in settlement with environmental group". www.lancasteronline.com. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
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