Dominion Energy Puts New Emission Control Equipment
Into Operation At West Virginia Power Station
MT. STORM, W.Va. -- Dominion Energy, the electric generating
unit of Dominion (NYSE: D), has completed construction of new emission control
systems at its Mt. Storm Power Station and placed them into operation, reducing
sulfur dioxide emissions.
The two new scrubbers should have a positive impact on environmentally
sensitive areas such as Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and the Dolly Sods
Wilderness Area in West Virginia.
The scrubbers will remove 95 percent, or about 100,000 tons
per year, of the SO2 emissions from Units 1 and 2. Unit 3 was equipped with
a scrubber in 1994. The new scrubbers have been operating since mid-January.
Final testing and adjustments were completed this month. The cost of the two-scrubber
project was about $120 million.
"Dominion Energy prides itself on being a sound environmental
steward, and the completion of this project reflects that commitment," said
Thomas F. Farrell II, chief executive officer.
Sulfur dioxide has been linked to acid rain and reduced visibility
in Shenandoah National Park and the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area.
Scrubbers operate by spraying a mixture of pulverized limestone
and water into the exhaust gas of the generating units. Inside the scrubber
vessels, calcium in the limestone reacts with the gaseous SO2 to form calcium
sulfate, commonly know as gypsum. Gypsum from the scrubbers will be trucked
to nearby mines and used to help reclaim highly acidic mine water runoff.
The scrubbers are part of Dominion Energy's strategy to reduce
S02 emissions as part of Phase II of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.
In addition, the station is working on a $250 million project
to install environmental controls to remove nitrogen oxide emissions from all
three of Mt. Storm's units. Nitrogen oxide has been linked to the formation
of ground-level ozone. This selective catalytic reduction system should be complete
by spring 2004.
"When we complete the installation of all these controls,
Mt. Storm will be one of the cleanest coal-fired plants in the world," Farrell
said.
Mt. Storm Power Station is located near the West Virginia/Maryland
line, about 150 miles west of Washington, D.C. Each of the three units at the
station has a design capacity of 550 megawatts.
Dominion, headquartered in Richmond, Va., is one of the nation's
largest producers of energy, with a production capability of more than 3 trillion
British thermal unit of energy per day. Its 22,000-megawatt generation portfolio
is expected to grow to more than 26,000 megawatts by 2005. In addition to its
more than 4.9 trillion cubic feet equivalent of natural gas reserves and more
than 450 billion cubic feet equivalent of annual production, Dominion owns and
operates 7,600 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline with a delivery capability
of 6.3 billion cubic feet per day. The company also operates the nation's largest
underground natural gas storage system, with more than 950 billion cubic feet
of storage capacity. Dominion serves nearly 4 million retail natural gas and
electric customers in five states, and owns a managing equity interest in Dominion
Fiber Ventures LLC. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's
Web site at www.dom.com.
