The lone remaining coal-fired energy plant within the state of Washington will shut down on the finish of December, and shall be transformed to burn pure fuel. Operator TransAlta Corp. on December 9 introduced an settlement with Puget Sound Vitality (PSE) for the transition, with a 16-year, fixed-price contract for the gas-fired era that runs by 2044.
The plant in Centralia will reopen late in 2028, in accordance with TransAlta, as a 700-MW gas-fired facility. The closure of Centralia Unit 2, the final coal-fired unit on the plant, was accepted by Washington lawmakers in 2011. TransAlta mentioned the coal-to-gas conversion would require a capital expenditure of about $600 million.
John Kousinioris, CEO and president of Canada-based TransAlta, in an announcement mentioned changing the plant to pure fuel “will lower the emission intensity profile of the facility by approximately 50 percent. We are grateful for the constructive and solution-oriented engagement we have received from the Department of Ecology and other state and local regulatory bodies through the development of this project and we are well- positioned to receive required regulatory approvals in a timely manner.”
Kousinioris added, “This project demonstrates the valuable role that legacy assets can play in supporting the State’s clean energy laws and system reliability in a cost-effective and timely fashion.”
Former Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire, a Democrat who throughout her time period (2005-2013) helped forge the take care of TransAlta, previous to Tuesday’s announcement had mentioned she supported shifting to pure fuel to help baseload energy within the state. Gregoire famous the significance of maintaining the plant working whereas extra renewable power initiatives are constructed. The location in Centralia additionally was residence to a coal mine, the biggest within the state, that was closed practically 20 years in the past.
The settlement handed by state lawmakers in 2011 mentioned the coal-fired era at Centralia would finish by year-end 2025. It additionally mentioned the state would expedite a gas-fired facility on the website. The deal additionally known as for TransAlta to supply $55 million for financial growth initiatives round Centralia.
Kousinioris mentioned, “Our Centralia facility has a protracted historical past of offering dependable and reasonably priced energy within the Pacific Northwest area. We’re happy to increase the helpful lifetime of this asset and help the continuing reliability wants of PSE and, by extension, its clients.
“When the facility re-enters operations, it will generate long-term contracted cash flow for TransAlta, earning a full return on and of capital within the contract term,” mentioned Kousinioris in his assertion. “The Company is well-positioned to execute this project given our deep technical, operational and engineering experience gained in previous coal-to-gas conversions.”
—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.
