The R. Gallagher Generating Station was a four-unit coal-burning power plant located along the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

some two miles (3 km) downstream from

New Albany, Indiana New Albany is a city in New Albany Township, Floyd County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River, opposite Louisville, Kentucky. The population was 37,841 as of the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Floyd County. It ...

in southernmost

Floyd County, Indiana Floyd County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. Its county seat is New Albany, Indiana, New Albany. The population of the county was 80,484 as of the 2020 United States census. Floyd County has the second- ...

. The total aggregate capacity (year-around) of the plant's four identical units was 560 MW. Unit 2 began operating in 1958; unit 1 in 1959; unit 3 in 1960 and unit 4 in 1961. In early 2012, both Units 1 and 3 were retired. Units 2 and 4 continued to operate because Duke Energy installed baghouses, greatly reducing the pollution and meeting the current standards set by the EPA. The plant's 2012 output was 280 megawatts (each unit is rated at 140 megawatts). The plant is connected to the grid by 138 and 230 kilovolt transmission lines.

Environmental impact

Sulphur dioxide emissions

As of 2006, R. Gallagher was the dirtiest major power station in the US in terms of

sulphur dioxide Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless gas with a pungent smell that is responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is r ...

gas emission rate: it discharged of SO₂ for each

MWh A kilowatt-hour ( unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a non-SI unit of energy equal to 3.6 megajoules (MJ) in SI units, which is the energy delivered by one kilowatt of power for one hour. Kilowatt-hours are a commo ...

electric power Electric power is the rate of transfer of electrical energy within a electric circuit, circuit. Its SI unit is the watt, the general unit of power (physics), power, defined as one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with oth ...

produced that year (50,819 tons of SO₂ per year in total).

Shutdown and Plant Closure

Duke Energy shutdown the plant on June 1, 2021, earlier than the previously scheduled retirement in 2022. After shutdown Duke Energy will continue the process of closing coal ash basins on site, which could take several years. The Gallagher plant is expected to be dismantled at some point in the future.

Planned Implosion and Demolition

On October 20, 2024, the boiler house of the R. Gallagher Generating Station was imploded after being shut down since June 1, 2021, with the twin smoke stacks scheduled to be demolished by 2025.

References

External links