Advances in Coal-Fueled Generation
The Power Systems Development Facility in Wilsonville, Ala.
Hyperbolic cooling towers frame Plant Vogtle, near Waynesboro, Georgia.
Since 2000, Southern Company has added 8,500 MW of natural-gas fired generation. Natural gas-fired combined cycle power plants continue to grow in efficiency through advances in turbine technology. Although natural gas prices have increased in the past few years and may continue to fluctuate, natural gas-fueled power plants will remain a viable option because they are clean and relatively fast and less costly to build.
Coal is our nation's most abundant and affordable fossil fuel. We are developing and installing new coal-based generation technologies to enable us to continue to use coal in a cost-effective, environmentally sensitive manner.
Gasification
Over the past decade, Southern Company, with the Department of Energy, has been developing cleaner, less expensive, more reliable methods for power production from coal. The Power Systems Development Facility near Wilsonville, Alabama, has developed promising gasification technologies with near-term practical applications.
Rather than burning coal directly to make electricity, gasification first breaks coal down into chemical components.
Gases that result from this chemical breakdown can be used to fuel power plants using integrated gasification combined cycle technology.
Honors from the Southeastern Electric Exchange 2005 Industry Excellence Awards included:
- Southern Company for environmental excellence for the fine particulate agglomerator at Plant Watson.
- Alabama Power for transmission excellence for a program designed to improve the reliability of an aged line.
- Georgia Power for customer service and billing excellence for its enhanced service initiative program.
- Gulf Power for production excellence for its Plant Crist Unit 6 storm damage recovery project.
- Mississippi Power for rates and regulations excellence for the development of Rate Manager software.
Southern Company, in conjunction with our partner KBR, has further developed the gasification process to work even more efficiently for sub-bituminous and other low-rank coals. Low-rank coals have less energy per pound but account for half of worldwide reserves. This gasification process, developed at the Power Systems Development Facility, is called Transport Integrated Gasification (TRIGTM).
TRIG is adapted from a proven technology used to refine oil and turns low-rank coal into a viable fuel for modern gas turbine power generators. The process uses air-blown gasification rather than the more commonly used oxygen-blown approach, which reduces the cost of power production.
Improvements to Conventional Technology
We are looking to implement better conventional power plant technology. Improved pulverized coal plants have extremely low sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and mercury emissions and are 5-10 percent more efficient in converting coal to electricity, which leads to lower emissions. We are also adding bag houses, scrubbers, and SCRs to many of our existing plants.
Future Low Carbon Coal-Based Generation Technologies
Southern Company is working to develop and demonstrate carbon dioxide capture and storage (or sequestration) from coal-based generation into deep underground formations. We have joined the Department of Energy-sponsored Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership which plans to test the injection of carbon dioxide into a deep saline reservoir and an unmineable coal seam. The Department of Energy and Southern Company are also funding tests using carbon dioxide to enhance the production from oil wells in the Southeast. Plus, with the Electric Power Research Institute and others, we are working to evaluate ways to capture carbon dioxide from conventional pulverized coal plants. Carbon dioxide capture and sequestration costs are projected to be much higher than the costs to control nitrogen oxides or sulfur dioxide emissions. One of our goals is to reduce these costs.