Chesapeake Energy Center is located beside the southern branch
of the Elizabeth River in the city of Chesapeake, Virginia. The Center has provided
reliable, efficient electric power for almost half a century. It is one of six
major fossil fuel power stations owned and operated by Dominion Energy.
Chesapeake's four coal-fired generating units and eight gas
turbines can generate more than 760 megawatts of electricity - as much in one
hour as 76 average homes use in a year. The station generates about 7 percent
of all the power used by the homes, businesses and industries in he company's
30,000 - square mile service area.
The station's first generating unit went into service in
1953 followed by a second unit of similar design in 1954. Both units had a total
capacity of 101 megawatts. A 172 megawatt unit was added in 1959 and the largest
unit, with a capacity of 230 megawatts, came into service in 1962. The facility
was built as the Portsmouth Power Station but its name was changed in late 1983
to reflect more accurately its location. The station's units all burned coal
until the late 1960's. Federal requirements and the shrinking price of oil then
prompted a change to burn oil in the 1970s.
However, with the soaring price of oil, Chesapeake Units
3 and 4 were re-converted to coal by the early 1980s. The station's two oldest
units were re-converted to burn coal later, and modified to provide a greater
generating capacity. The two were returned to service in 1987 with a capacity
of 118 megawatts each. The four Chesapeake units were among a dozen oil units
converted by the company to burn coal - the largest coal conversion program
in the nation.
About the Environment
Like any coal-burning power station, Chesapeake produces
airborne particles known as fly ash. After the hot combustion gases containing
fly ash leave the station's boilers, they pass through huge electrostatic precipitators.
The precipitators function like giant electric air cleaners and remove 99 percent
of the ash contained in the gases. The cleansed gases are then vented to the
atmosphere through stacks as tall as 200 feet.
The fly ash removed from the gases is loaded on trucks and
hauled to a carefully engineered disposal site near the station.
Other technologies reduce other emissions. Units 1, 2, and
4 use the Burner Out Of Service (BOOS) method to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx)
emissions. In BOOS, fuel is pumped into the bottom of the burner and air is
pumped above the flame. This causes ignition to occur higher in the fire box,
which creates a lower temperature and less NOx...Unit 3 has a Low NOx burner
installed to reduce emissions from that boiler.
Brief Facts
Net Generating Capacity: 760 megawatts
Generating Capacity by Unit:
Unit 1 - 118 megawatts
Unit 2 - 118 megawatts
Unit 3 - 172 megawatts
Unit 4 - 230 megawatts
Average Daily Coal Consumption: 4,500 tons
Commercial Operation -
Unit 1 - 1953
Unit 2 - 1954
Unit 3 - 1959
Unit 4 - 1962
