Montour Steam Station

From Global Energy Monitor

Montour Steam Station is an operating power station of at least 1757-megawatts (MW) in Washingtonville, Montour, Pennsylvania, United States with multiple units, some of which are not currently operating.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Montour Steam Station Washingtonville, Montour, Pennsylvania, United States 41.069558, -76.665458 (exact)

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

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

  • Unit 1, Unit 2: 41.069558, -76.665458
  • Unit 1, Unit 2: 41.06956, -76.6655

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology CHP Start year Retired year
Unit 1 operating coal - bituminous 864.9 supercritical 1971 2025 (planned)
Unit 1 pre-construction[1][2] gas[1] 865[3] steam turbine[3] no[4] 2025[4][1]
Unit 2 operating coal - bituminous 893 supercritical 1973 2025 (planned)
Unit 2 pre-construction[1][2] gas[1] 893[3] steam turbine[3] no[4] 2025[4][1]

CHP is an abbreviation for Combined Heat and Power. It is a technology that produces electricity and thermal energy at high efficiencies. Coal units track this information in the Captive Use section when known.

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name Owner Parent
Unit 1 TalenEnergy Montour LLC [100.0%]
Unit 1 Talen Energy[5] Riverstone Holdings [100.0%]
Unit 2 TalenEnergy Montour LLC [100.0%]
Unit 2 Talen Energy[5] Riverstone Holdings [100.0%]

Ownership

The plant was owned by PPL. On June 10, 2014, PPL announced that it would spin off its competitive energy business which would merge with Riverstone Holdings' operations to create Talen Energy.[6] Talen Energy launched on June 1, 2015.[7]

Background

In 2016 plant owner Talen Energy planned to modify the plant to also burn natural gas, but later put a hold on the plans, saying it wanted to first evaluate the use of both gas and coal at its Brunner Island Power Station.[8]

Conversion to Gas

In November of 2020, Talen Energy committed to ceasing coal burning at the plant and converting it to gas by the end of 2025.[9] As of June 2023, the conversion plans were still in effect according to the media.[10]

Emissions Data

  • 2006 CO2 Emissions: 9,877,806 tons
  • 2006 SO2 Emissions: 129,357 tons
  • 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
  • 2006 NOx Emissions: 13,674 tons
  • 2005 Mercury Emissions: 312 lb.

Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Montour Plant

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.[11] 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.[12]

Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Montour Steam Station

Type of Impact Annual Incidence Valuation
Deaths 34 $250,000,000
Heart attacks 59 $6,400,000
Asthma attacks 530 $28,000
Hospital admissions 27 $620,000
Chronic bronchitis 20 $9,.000,000
Asthma ER visits 22 $8,000

Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed March 2011

Articles and Resources

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 https://web.archive.org/web/20230101113855/https://www.dailyitem.com/the_danville_news/talen-moving-toward-converting-montour-plant-to-gas/article_60202c00-847c-11ec-b584-ef9d9ef88809.html. Archived from the original on 01 January 2023. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archive-date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. 2.0 2.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20230614235114/http://www.eenews.net/articles/pa-coal-plants-keep-closing-does-the-state-need-carbon-trading/. Archived from the original on 14 June 2023. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "U.S. Energy Information Administration, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (May 2023)". Archived from the original on September 18, 2023. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "U.S. Energy Information Administration, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (April 2022)". Archived from the original on July 12, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  5. 5.0 5.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20221001144651/https://www.talenenergy.com/plant/montour/. Archived from the original on 01 October 2022. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archive-date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. "PPL Corp. to Spin off Units, Form New Co. with Riverstone". Zacks Equity Research. June 10, 2014. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  7. The Morning Call Staff (April 29, 2015). "Talen Energy to launch June 1". The Morning Call. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  8. "Talen Energy delays coal-conversion plan at Montour generating plant" PennLive, Dec 5, 2016
  9. "Talen moving toward converting Montour Plant to gas". The Daily Item. February 2, 20122. Retrieved June 23, 2023. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. "Pa. coal plants keep closing. Does the state need carbon trading?". E&E News. June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
  12. "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 interactive maps of the power stations, downloadable datases, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker and the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.