Las Brisas Energy Center

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Las Brisas Energy Center is a cancelled power station in Corpus Christi, Texas, United States.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Las Brisas Energy Center Corpus Christi, Texas, United States 27.704264, -97.380166 (approximate)

The map below shows the approximate location of the power station.

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Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology Start year Retired year
Unit 1 cancelled coal - waste coal 1320 unknown

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name Owner
Unit 1 Las Brisas Energy Center [100.0%]

Background

The plant's proposal was cancelled in January 2013.[1][2]

History

Las Brisas Energy Center, LLC submitted an air permit application to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on May 19, 2009. The proposed plant would be built on a strip of land across the Corpus Christi Bay. It is the same site as Tondu Corporation's proposed Nueces IGCC Plant, which was cancelled in 2007.[3]

Environmental groups have been outspoken against the plant. On February 15, the Clean Economy Coalition gathered over 200 people to march along the Corpus Christi bay to protest the plant. The coalition, which includes many health professionals and medical doctors, held a news conference on February 16, where they warned that the plant would cause an increase in cases of asthma, heart attacks, cancer, and neurological problems. Asthma cases in the area are already about twice as high as the Texas state average.[3][4]

According to the Sierra Club, a contested case hearing regarding Las Brisas' draft air permit is expected in November of 2009.[1]

In January 2011, Texas regulators approved an air permit for the proposed Las Brias Energy Center. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) approved the air permit for the project after hearing 45 minutes of testimony.[5]

In January 2013, Chase Power, the parent company of Las Brisas Energy Center LLC, announced that it was going out of business. The company cited financial conditions, lower natural gas prices, and new regulatory requirements set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as reasons for halting plans for the plant. The project has also faced numerous permitting obstacles, with a District Court judge most recently ruling that the air permit failed to meet requirements of the Clean Air Act.[1]

Citizen Groups

Articles and Resources

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Stopping the Coal Rush", Sierra Club, accessed May 2009. (This is a Sierra Club list of new coal plant proposals.)
  2. "Las Brisas Energy Center," company website, accessed January 2016
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Stopping the Coal Rush", Sierra Club, accessed February 2009. (This is a Sierra Club list of new coal plant proposals.)
  4. "Doctors Fight Planned Corpus Christi Coke-Fired Power Plant," Environmental News Service, February 17, 2009.
  5. "Coal-fired 1,300MW Las Brias power plant wins permit in Texas" Dorothy Davis, PennEnergy.com, January 26, 2011.

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.