Oklaunion Power Plant

Oklaunion Power Plant is a 650-megawatt (MW), coal power plant located southeast of Vernon, Texas in Wilbarger County, Texas. Its unit is operated by American Electric Power (AEP). The plant began commercial generation in 1986.

Oklaunion Power Plant
CountryUnited States
LocationWilbarger County, near Vernon, Texas
Coordinates34°4′57″N 99°10′34″W
StatusDecommissioned[1]
Commission date1986
Decommission dateSeptember 30th 2020 [2]
Owner(s)American Electric Power (AEP) 70%
Texas Public Utility Board 18%
Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority 12%
Operator(s)AEP
Thermal power station
Primary fuelCoal
Cooling sourceLake Diversion
Power generation
Nameplate capacity650 MW

History

The construction for Oklaunion began in 1982 and was commissioned by West Texas Utilities, a forerunner of AEP.[3] The plant commenced commercial generation in December 1986.[4] Initially, the coal was transported from the Rawhide Mine in Wyoming.[5] In 2017, the plant received 719,467 short tons of coal from the North Antelope Rochelle Mine by train according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).[6] The plant's cooling source came from Lake Diversion, located in Archer and Baylor County, Texas.[7]

In September 2018, AEP announced they were shutting down Oklaunion by September 2020. The company cited production costs and being no longer competitive in the power market as the reasons it was closing.[8][9]

See also

References
  1. https://aepretirees.com/2020/10/01/oklaunion-power-plant-remembered-as-great-place-to-work/
  2. https://aepretirees.com/2020/10/01/oklaunion-power-plant-remembered-as-great-place-to-work/
  3. "Groundbreaking For WTU Coal Plant is May 22". Quanah Tribune Chief. May 13, 1982. p. 8. Retrieved October 13, 2018 – via https://newspaperarchive.com/.
  4. "West Texas Utilities puts Oklaunion plant on line". The Foard County News. January 22, 1987. p. 2. Retrieved October 13, 2018 – via https://newspaperarchive.com/.
  5. "WTU Signs Fuel Pact With Exxon". Quanah Tribune Chief. May 24, 1981. p. 1. Retrieved October 13, 2018 – via https://newspaperarchive.com/.
  6. "Coal Data Browser – Shipments to Oklaunion". Energy Information Administration (EIA). Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  7. Knight, Bridget (April 26, 2017). "Back in the Day: A power behemouth comes online". Times Record News. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  8. Navera, Tristan (September 25, 2018). "AEP closing another coal-fired power plant". Columbus Business First. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  9. McBride, Landon (September 21, 2018). "How power plant closure will affect Vernon". KFDX-TV. Retrieved October 12, 2018.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.