Hudson Generating Station was a

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

operated by PSEG Fossil LLC, a subsidiary of

Public Service Enterprise Group The Public Service Enterprise Group, Inc. (PSEG) is a publicly traded energy company based in Newark, New Jersey. It was founded in 1985, with its roots tracing back to 1903. Its largest subsidiary is Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE ...

(PSEG). It was located in

Jersey City Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

Hudson County Hudson County is a List of counties in New Jersey, county in the U.S. state of New Jersey, its smallest and most densely populated. Lying in the northeast of the state and on the west bank of the North River (Hudson River), Hudson River, the No ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, United States. The site was in operation from 1906 to 2017, but as of 2011 only one unit was in operation at the facility – Unit 2, which ran primarily on

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

to generate

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

and was also capable of burning

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

as a secondary fuel. Unit 2 was also equipped with several back-end technology emission controls. The generating station was closed permanently by PSEG Power on June 1, 2017. The 241-acre site was sold to Chicago-based Hilco Redevelopment Partners in January 2019, which plans to repurpose the site as a state-of-the-art industrial park serving growing warehouse-distribution business in region.

Location

The Hudson Generating Station occupied a nearly site north of the intersection of Duffield and Van Keuren Avenues. Located on the east bank of the

Hackensack River The Hackensack River is a river, about 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the suburban ar ...

near the Riverbend, three miles (5 km) upstream from

Newark Bay Newark Bay is a tidal bay at the confluence of the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers in northeastern New Jersey. It is home to the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, the largest container shipping facility in Port of New York and New Jerse ...

, it created the perimeter of Croxton and the Marion Section, and borders

Secaucus Secaucus ( ) is a town in Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 22,181, an increase of 5,917 (+36.4%) from the 2010 census count of 16,264, which in turn reflected an in ...

at Penhorn Creek.

History

The Hudson Generating Station was built on the site of the former Marion Generating Station, the first PSEG plant, which started operation in 1906. The Marion Station was the largest in the PSEG fleet until 1924. The bulk of the Marion station was retired in 1961, as construction on the Hudson Station began. Unit 1 was installed in 1964 and retired in 2011. Unit 2 was installed in 1968 and acted as a load following unit. Unit 3, a gas-burning turbine, was installed in 1967 and shut down in 2003. When the station was retired in 2017, the company stated the decision was mostly because of tougher environmental regulations and a move toward natural gas. The 500 feet tall smokestack was demolished on March 21, 2020. Four months later, the main structure of the plant was demolished via controlled implosion on July 24, 2020.

Fuel supply

Unit 2 typically burned a low-sulphur coal from

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. In May 1996, a test on that coal indicated a 0.056 ppm (by weight) mercury content. * Water usage: There were no cooling towers at the PSE&G Hudson plant; the

water was utilized for the plant's Rankine cycle condenser cooling. * The Unused Coal, a special rank, and grade, from Indonesia was shipped overseas (Fall 2017)...

Historic emissions

Habitats and environment

Ospreys

In 1997, officials from PSEG Fossil observed that

ospreys The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It is ...

were unsuccessfully attempting to build nests on a transmission tower at the Hudson Generating Station. To support the birds, Public Service Electric and Gas Company installed a nesting platform on a utility pole at the station in 1998. The platform was constructed by students from the Hudson Liberty Council’s Boy Scouts of America and the Urban League of Hudson County’s youth build program. On July 13, 2007, the first osprey chick to hatch in the New Jersey Meadowlands since the early 20th century flew from its nest at the Hudson Generating Station.

NJDEP Environmental Stewardship Program

By 2010, the station achieved recognition by the

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is a government agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is responsible for managing the state's natural resources and addressing issues related to pollution. NJDEP now has a staf ...

Compliance & Enforcement division in 10 of a possible 21 Environmental Stewardship categories.

Conflicts and controversies

Clean Air Act settlement and installation of back-end technology

After being accused of violating New Source Review standards in 2000, PSEG settled with federal regulators and entered into a consent decree in 2002, which mandated the installation of emission controls at Hudson. In 2010, the facility completed installation of back-end technology to control emissions at the station: selective catalytic reduction to control nitrogen oxides, dry scrubbers to control sulfur dioxide, activated carbon injection to control mercury, and a pulse jet fabric filter system to control particulate emissions. Despite the US$700 million investment in improvements in the facility some activists still considered it a detriment to the community.

References

{{reflist 1964 establishments in New Jersey 2017 disestablishments in New Jersey Energy infrastructure completed in 1964 Energy infrastructure completed in 1968 Buildings and structures demolished in 2020 Former coal-fired power stations in New Jersey Buildings and structures in Jersey City, New Jersey New Jersey Meadowlands District Power stations in Hudson County, New Jersey Public Service Enterprise Group