Coronado Generating Station
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Coronado Generating Station is an operating power station of at least 821-megawatts (MW) in Saint John, Apache, Arizona, United States.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Coronado Generating Station | Saint John, Apache, Arizona, United States | 34.577847, -109.272511 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the power station.
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- Unit 1, Unit 2: 34.577847, -109.272511
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | Start year | Retired year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | operating | coal - subbituminous | 410.9 | subcritical | 1979 | 2032 (planned) |
| Unit 2 | operating | coal - subbituminous | 410.9 | subcritical | 1980 | 2032 (planned) |
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner |
|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Salt River Project (SRP) [100.0%] |
| Unit 2 | Salt River Project (SRP) [100.0%] |
Project-level coal details
- Coal source(s): Spring Creek Mine (Navajo Transitional Energy), Antelope Coal Mine (Navajo Transitional Energy), Black Thunder Mine (Arch Coal)
Unit Retirements
In January 2020, Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement & Power District voted to keep unit 1 running until no later then 2032 and it will run at a reduced capacity untill retirement.[1]
In February 2021, Salt River Project released an updated timeline for reducing workforce at the plant over the next four years. The reduction would accommodate ongoing operational curtailments of the plant’s two coal-fired units in preparation for the plant’s accelerated retirement no later than 2032.[2]
Environmental Controls
The EPA required additional environmental controls for one of the two units before the end of 2025. Unit 2 already has the required controls installed. The plant will now be reconfigured so that both units will share the existing controls of unit 2 so both units can continue to run at reduced capacity. This reconfiguration has a expected costs of 50 million to 60 million USD. When both units are running they will run at reduced capacity, but when one of the units is shut down then the other unit can run at full capacity.[1]
Unlined coal ash dam
In January 2023, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the refusal of applications from six coal-fired power stations to dispose of coal ash in unlined dams. The EPA stated that the utilities operating the power stations failed to demonstrate how they would meet groundwater protection regulations. The impacted power stations were Belle River Power Plant, Coal Creek Station, Conemaugh Generating Station, Coronado Generating Station, Martin Lake Steam Station and Monroe Power Plant.[3]
Emissions Data
- 2006 CO2 Emissions: 6,556,592 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions: 13,515 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
- 2006 NOx Emissions: 12,754 tons
- 2005 Mercury Emissions: 582 lb.
Salt River Project Agriculture Improvement and Power District Clean Air Act Settlement
On August, 12, 2008 the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. EPA announced that the owner of the Salt River Project in St. Johns, Arizona agreed to install pollution controls at the facility at an estimated cost of $400 million to reduce harmful pollutants. In addition the owner also paid a $950,000 civil penalty. The settlement resolved allegations that the Salt River Project violated New Source Review requirements of the Clean Air Act.
“This settlement marks a significant step in controlling harmful nitrogen oxide emissions in the Western United States,” said Granta Nakayama, assistant administrator for EPA’s enforcement and compliance assurance program. “The installation of state-of-the-art technology sets an important benchmark for the control of this harmful pollutant. EPA is committed to ensuring coal-fired power plants comply with the Clean Air Act.”
The settlement mandates that the owner install and operate new pollution control equipment on both generating units at its Coronado Generating Station. These controls will reduce combined emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) by approximately 21,000 tons annually.
SRP will install flue gas desulfurization devices (scrubbers) to control SO2 at both units and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) controls to limit NOx at one of the units. The settlement was the first ever to secure an SCR retrofit of an existing coal-fired electric generating unit in the Western United States.[4]
Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Coronado
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 Coronado Generating Station
| Type of Impact | Annual Incidence | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 12 | $85,000,000 |
| Heart attacks | 18 | $1,900,000 |
| Asthma attacks | 210 | $11,000 |
| Hospital admissions | 9 | $190,000 |
| Chronic bronchitis | 7 | $3,300,000 |
| Asthma ER visits | 11 | $4,000 |
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed March 2011
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Arizona coal generator to close in 2020, while another given lifeline as decline of plants across West continues" AZcentral.com. January 7, 2020
- ↑ "SRP announces timeline for planned workforce reduction at Coronado Generating Station," White Mountain Independent, February 12, 2021
- ↑ "EPA Announces Latest Actions to Protect Groundwater and Communities from Coal Ash Contamination," United States Environmental Protection Agency, January 25, 2023
- ↑ "First Settlement in Western U.S. Requiring State-of-the-Art Nitrogen Oxide Retrofit," U.S. EPA, accessed August 12, 2008
- ↑ "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
Additional data
To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
