Centralia Big Hanaford power plant is a coal-fired power plant supplemented with natural-gas-fired units. It is located east of

Centralia, Washington Centralia () is a city in Lewis County, Washington, Lewis County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. It is located along Interstate 5 in Washington, Interstate 5 near the midpoint between Seattle and Portland, Oregon. The city had a ...

, United States in Lewis County. It is the only commercial coal-fired power plant in the

State of Washington Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

. The plant, owned by

TransAlta TransAlta Corporation (formerly Calgary Power Company, Ltd.) is an electricity power generator and wholesale marketing company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is a privately owned corporation and its shares are traded publicly. It o ...

, is situated on and at its peak, generated energy ample enough to power

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. The plant is expected to permanently close in 2025 based on an agreement and bill signed in 2011 by governor

Christine Gregoire Christine Gregoire (; née O'Grady; born March 24, 1947) is an American attorney and politician who served as the List of governors of Washington, 22nd governor of Washington, from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), D ...

, the TransAlta Energy Transition Bill. As a result, one coal boiler was shut down in 2020 as part of beginning phase of the closure.

Generating units

Coal-fired

The two identical coal-fired generating units have a combined capacity of 1,340 MW. Both units started up for commercial operation in August 1971. (Bonneville Power Administration 1980 EIS) In following the 2011 agreement to close the plant, the first boiler was shut down in 2020 with the second unit planned for closure in 2025. A schedule of emissions reductions were put in place to be met as the closure date nears. The

Washington State Senate The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Washington State Capitol, Legis ...

approved the deal with a 36–13 vote."TransAlta Agrees to Phase Out Coal Plant".
PubliCola.com. March 9, 2011. To complete this transition, TransAlta received an expedited permit, and is also exempt from any Environmental Impact Assessment that would otherwise be required. The energy produced until its closure is used by

Puget Sound Energy Puget Sound Energy, Inc. (PSE) is an energy utility company based in the U.S. state of Washington that provides electrical power and natural gas to the Puget Sound region. The utility serves electricity to more than 1.2 million customers in I ...

(PSE) and according to 2022 figures, 14.5% of PSE's electric load came from the TransAlta coal plant, enough to supply power to 300,000 homes.

Gas-fired

In 2002, the plant capacity was supplemented with five natural gas-fired units. Four of them are 50-

MWe The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named in honor o ...

gas turbine (GT) units, and the fifth is a 68-MWe steam cycle unit. The entire arrangement is known as combined cycle 4-on-1 where the exhaust from the 4 GT's creates steam via Heat Recovery Steam Generators (HRSGs) to power a single steam turbine. In 2014, the gas fired portion of the plant known as the "Big Hanaford Plant" was removed from the plant footprint and parted out to various buyers.

Fuel supply

Seventy percent of

sub-bituminous coal Sub-bituminous coal is a lower grade of coal that contains 35–45% carbon. The properties of this type are between those of lignite, the lowest grade of coal, and those of bituminous coal, the second-highest grade of coal. Sub-bituminous coal ...

used by the plant was delivered by truck from the nearby

Centralia Coal Mine Centralia Coal Mine was an open-pit coal mine, owned by the Canadian-based TransAlta Corporation. The mine shut down in 2006. Also referred to as the TransAlta Centralia Mining (TCM) operation, the coal mine was located approximately northea ...

, which was a

strip mine Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in whic ...

and the largest coal mine in the state of Washington, until it closed down on November 27, 2006. Coal from the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming has also been transported by rail to be burned at the plant since 1989, but was only used to supplement Centralia Coal mine coal until 2006. By 2008, the plant was burning 100% Powder River basin coal. Rail upgrades and SO₂ scrubber upgrades to ensure the plant releases less pollution would have ensured the operation runs for at least another 15–20 years. Before the closure of unit 1 Centralia burned coal from about nine 110-car coal trains each week (i.e. 990 full coal cars).

Environmental and public impacts

Annually, the Centralia Power Plant emits 350 pounds of mercury pollution, making it the state's largest single source of mercury pollution. Mercury pollution is a bio cumulative

neurotoxin Neurotoxins are toxins that are destructive to nervous tissue, nerve tissue (causing neurotoxicity). Neurotoxins are an extensive class of exogenous chemical neurological insult (medical), insultsSpencer 2000 that can adversely affect function ...

which causes

brain damage Brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating trauma-induced damage. A common ...

in humans and is especially dangerous for children and pregnant or nursing mothers. The plant also emits 979,557 t CO₂e (year 2019), making up a large portion of Washington State's total CO₂ emissions. All of the mining area is currently being reclaimed. When TransAlta bought the plant in 2000, it agreed to reduce emissions. It installed US$200 million worth of

scrubber Scrubber systems (e.g. chemical scrubbers, gas scrubbers) are a diverse group of air pollution control devices that can be used to remove some particulates and/or gases from industrial exhaust streams. An early application of a carbon dioxide scr ...

s on the plant, which were purchased from ABB Environmental Systems. Between 2010 and 2012, the Centralia Power Plant was offline for an average of 4 months of each year. In March 2009, a proposed agreement between TransAlta and the

Washington State Department of Ecology The Washington State Department of Ecology (sometimes referred to simply as "Ecology") is the state of Washington's environmental regulatory agency. Created in February 1970, it was the first environmental regulation agency in the U.S. predating ...

was announced, regarding a significant step forward in improving air quality in Washington. Key to the agreement is TransAlta's willingness to voluntarily reduce mercury emissions by at least 50 percent by 2012 to address air quality concerns in the region. Capture testing took place in 2009 and an activated injection product was selected. The process was expected to cost US$20 to $30 million over several years. Additionally, continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) for mercury measurement was certified by the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC). As part of the same agreement between TransAlta and the Washington Department of Ecology, TransAlta agreed to reduce emissions of

nitrogen oxide Nitrogen oxide may refer to a binary compound of oxygen and nitrogen, or a mixture of such compounds: Charge-neutral *Nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen(II) oxide, or nitrogen monoxide * Nitrogen dioxide (), nitrogen(IV) oxide * Nitrogen trioxide (), o ...

() by 20 percent beginning in 2009. In 2012, Selective Non Catalytic Reduction (SNCR) system was installed to further reduce at a cost of almost $20M.

Ownership and contractors

From the early 1970s until 2000, the plant was owned by eight utilities:

PacifiCorp PacifiCorp is an electric power company based in the Lloyd Center Tower in Portland, Oregon with operations in the western United States. PacifiCorp has two business units: Pacific Power, a regulated electric utility with service territory thro ...

(47.5%), Avista Energy (15%),

Seattle City Light Seattle City Light is the public utility providing electricity to Seattle, Washington, in the United States, and parts of its metropolitan area, including all of Shoreline, nearly all of Lake Forest Park, and parts of unincorporated King County, ...

(8%),

Snohomish County PUD The Snohomish County Public Utility District is a public utility agency providing power to over 367,000 customers in Snohomish County and on Camano Island, Washington. It provides water service to about 23,000 customers in the northeast section ...

(8%),

Tacoma Power Tacoma Power is a public utility providing electrical power to Tacoma, Washington and the surrounding areas. Tacoma Power serves the cities of Tacoma, University Place, Fircrest, and Fife, and also provides service to parts of Steilacoom, L ...

(8%),

(7%),

Grays Harbor County PUD Grays or Greys may refer to: Places * Grays Bay, Nunavut, Canada * Grays, Essex, a town in Essex, England ** Grays railway station ** Grays School * Grays, Kent, a hamlet in Kent, England * Rotherfield Greys or Greys, a village in Oxfordshire, E ...

(4%), and

Portland General Electric Portland General Electric (PGE) is a Fortune 1000, ''Fortune'' 1000, publicly-traded energy company based in Portland, Oregon, that generates, transmits and distributes electricity, serving almost two-thirds of Oregon's commercial and industria ...

(2.5%)."State allows sale of three private utilities' share in Centralia coal plant," Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, Mar. 6, 2000 Plans to sell the plant began in 1998. In 2000, Portland General Electric sold its 2.5 percent share to Avista Energy, shortly before the plant was sold in its entirety to TransAlta Corporation for $554 million that same year. The design and construction of the new plant were by

Stone & Webster Stone & Webster was an American engineering services company based in Stoughton, Massachusetts. It was founded as an electrical testing lab and consulting firm by electrical engineers Charles A. Stone and Edwin S. Webster in 1889. In the earl ...

and ABB Environmental Systems.

Future plans

Future plans for the site include the operating of several

green energy Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Definitions of sustainable energy usually look at its effects on the environment, the economy, and so ...

facilities, including generating power via hydrogen and

nuclear fusion Nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction, reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei combine to form a larger nuclei, nuclei/neutrons, neutron by-products. The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manifested as either the rele ...

, and the decommissioning of the Centralia Coal Mine is expected to incorporate renewable energy machinery as the coal plant closes. The company created a $20 million fund for training and educational work programs for remaining employees of the plant.

References

{{reflist

External links

Power Technology – Centralia Power Plant New CCGT Unit, WA, USA
Natural gas-fired power stations in Washington (state) Coal-fired power stations in Washington (state) Centralia, Washington Buildings and structures in Lewis County, Washington Energy infrastructure completed in 1972