Cameo Station
{{#badges: CoalSwarm| Climate change}} Cameo Station is a coal-fired power station owned and operated by Xcel Energy near Palisade, Colorado, located on the western side of the state, about 45 miles from the Utah border, on the Colorado river.
In Nov. 2007, Xcel announced that it planned to shut Cameo down by the end of 2010, citing the older plant's inefficiency and the opportunity to reduce carbon emissions.[1] In Jan. 2009, Xcel announced plans to build a 1-MW test Concentrating Solar Power plant (the company's first) at the location, after Cameo is shut down. Construction is scheduled to begin in summer of 2009.[2] However, as of July 2010, the plant was still burning coal.
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Xcel develops world's first solar/coal hybrid power plant
In July 2010, the first ever solar-coal hybrid power plant began to operate in Colorado. The project was a joint endeavor between Xcel Energy and Abengoa Solar, the unit of Xcel’s Cameo Station is intended to show that solar power can reduce the environmental impact of coal-fired power plants. The plant uses parabolic trough solar collectors to heat the water that goes into the coal-fired turbine, which reduces amount of coal used at the facility by 2 to 3 percent. For a cost of $4.5 million, the hybrid plant will produce the equivalent of just one of 49 megawatts from solar power.[3]
Plant Data
- Owner: Public Service Company of Colorado
- Parent Company: Xcel Energy
- Plant Nameplate Capacity: 66 MW (Megawatts)
- Units and In-Service Dates: 22 MW (1957), 44 MW (1960)
- Location: 4 miles east of Palisade on I-70, Palisade, CO 81526
- GPS Coordinates: 39.148975, -108.318069
- Coal Consumption: 300,000 tons (2005)
- Coal Source: Colorado
- Number of Employees:
Emissions Data
- 2006 CO2 Emissions: 335,331 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions: 2,108 tons (Unit 2 only)
- 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
- 2006 NOx Emissions: 731 tons (Unit 2 only)
- 2005 Mercury Emissions:
The following table gives more info on this plant's SO2 emissions levels, as well as on whatever SO2 emissions "scrubbers" (Flue Gas Desulfurization units, or FGDs) have been installed at the plant. Each of the plant's units is listed separately, and at the bottom overall data for the plant is listed.[4][5]
| Unit # | Year Built | Capacity | MWh Produced (2005) | SO2 Emissions (2005) | SO2 Emissions per MWh (2005) | Average Annual Coal Sulfur Content | FGD Unit Type | FGD In-Service Year | FGD SO2 Removal Efficiency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1957 | 22 MW | 153,323 MWh | N/A | N/A | 0.54% | none | N/A | N/A |
| 2 | 1960 | 44 MW | 336,526 MWh | 2,108 tons | 12.53 lb./MWh | 0.55% | none | N/A | N/A |
Articles and Resources
Sources
- ↑ Xcel Officials Want to Shut Down Cameo Power Plant, NBC 11 News, Nov. 16, 2007.
- ↑ Xcel to Test Solar Generation at Cameo, Grand Junction Sentinel, Jan. 14, 2009.
- ↑ "World’s First Hybrid Coal-Solar Power Plant Goes Online in Colorado" Cameron Scott, Inhabitat.com, July 12, 2010.
- ↑ Coal Power Plant Database, National Energy Technology Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy, 2007.
- ↑ EIA-767, Energy Information Administration, 2005.
- Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2005, Energy Information Administration, accessed Jan. 2009.
- Environmental Integrity Project, "Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants", July 2007.
- Facility Registry System, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, accessed Jan. 2009.
- Carbon Monitoring for Action database, accessed Feb. 2009.
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External Articles
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