Yorktown Power Station is the fourth largest fossil-fired
generating station managed by Dominion. Yorktown's three generating units can
produce 1,150 megawatts of electricity – as much in one hour as 110 average
homes use in one year. The station generates more than 6 percent of the electric
power used by the homes, businesses and industries located in the company's
30,000 – square mile service area.
The station is located on the historic York River near the
Yorktown battlefield, site of the last major battle of the Revolutionary War.
Other nearby historic attractions include Colonial Williamsburg, the colonial
capital of Virginia; Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North
America; and Jamestown Festival Park, which recreates early colonial life.
About the Environment
As with any coal-burning power station, Yorktown's two coal
units produce particles known as fly ash. The flue gas containing fly ash leaves
the station's boilers and passes through electrostatic precipitators. The precipitators
act like giant electric air cleaners and remove about 99 percent of the ash
and other particles contained in the gases. The cleansed gases are vented to
the atmosphere through one of two tall stacks at the station.
The fly ash removed from the gases, together with ash from
the bottom of the boilers, is loaded on trucks and hauled to a disposal site
near the station where it is disposed in an environmentally safe manner.
Oil burns more cleanly than coal, so less fly ash is produced
during the combustion process at Unit 3 than at Units 1 and 2. At Unit 3, flue
gases containing fly ash are forced through a series of bends and turns in mechanical
dust collectors. This twisting pathway forces the fly ash to drop out before
the flue gases go up the stack. The fly ash is then collected and re-injected
repeatedly into the boiler to achieve optimum combustion.
Yorktown Units 1 and 2 use the Low Nox Burner technology
to reduce the amount of nitrogen oxide (NOx) that is released into the environment.
Along with other pollution control devices, the low NOx burners keep emissions
from the station within federally mandated emissions guidelines.
Brief Facts
Net Generating Capacity: 1,150 megawatts
Generating Capacity by Unit:
Unit 1 - 173 megawatts
Unit 2 - 182 megawatts
Unit 3 - 875 megawatts*
Average Daily Coal Consumption: 2,200 tons Average Daily Oil Consumption: 20,000 barrels (when operating)
Commercial Operation -
Unit 1 - July, 1957
Unit 2 - January, 1958
Unit 3 - December, 1974
Station Employees: +/- 100
Boiler Manufacturer -
All units - Combustion Engineering, Inc.
Turbine Generator Manufacturer -
Units 1 & 3- General Electric
Unit 2 - Westinghouse Electric Corp.
Engineer/Builder -
Units 1 & 2 - Stone & Webster Engineering Corp.
Unit 3 - Brown & Root, Inc.
