POWER4Georgians

Affordable Power For Georgians, By Georgians

Frequently Asked Questions

GENERAL


Q: What company or corporation is leading the project?
A: The project will be lead by Power4Georgians, a consortium of 10 electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) in Georgia.
<top>
Q: Where will the project be sited?
A: The plant will be located in Washington County , Georgia , a rural community located in the eastern part of the state about halfway between Macon and Augusta and about 125 miles southeast of Atlanta.
<top>
Q: How many other sites were considered?
A: While many sites in Georgia hold great potential for power plants, Washington County offered the best location and opportunity for this facility.
<top>
Q: How long will it take to obtain a state permit?
A: Although there is no set length of time, in Georgia , the permitting process generally takes about two years.
<top>
Q: From Permitting through construction, how long will it take until the facility is open and in operation?
A: The total process will take approximately 4 to 5 years.
<top>
Q: How much will the power plant cost?
A: Capital investment is expected to be approximately $2 billion. To put this in perspective, consider that Kia is investing $1.2 billion to build its new manufacturing plant in West Georgia.
<top>
Q: How many megawatts of power will the proposed plant generate?
A: The unit in Washington County will have the capacity to generate 850 MW of base load power – enough to power approximately 500,000 to 600,000 homes each year.
<top>
Q: Will electricity from the plant be sold out of state?
A: Absolutely not. This power station will help fill the needs of EMCs that operate in Georgia . No electricity will be sold to power providers outside of Georgia . The project’s overarching theme is “Affordable Power for Georgians by Georgians.”
<top>
Q: Why is this project needed?
A: The need for additional power generation among Georgia EMCs is widespread and, given project lead times, immediate. Although Oglethorpe Power Corporation provides base load, intermediate and peak generation for many EMCs, most EMCs also buy supplemental power from other power suppliers to meet member demand for reliable and affordable power. Over the next five years, many of these supplemental power contracts will expire and, with increasing growth, these providers are expected to charge substantially higher prices for any that are renewed. Georgia ’s electric co-ops have a responsibility to find the best, most reliable energy available at the best price for their members. From an economic standpoint, the cost of building this generation facility is more affordable for the participating EMCs and their members than continuing to buy power.
<top>
Q: What is the rate of growth for the co-ops involved in the project?
A: Georgia ’s co-ops – which currently serve about 4 million citizens in service areas that cover 73 percent of the state – are growing at an average of four percent a year. By comparison, the 10 EMCs involved in this project are growing at a rate of five percent annually – faster than the average for EMCs in Georgia. Because of the contract roll-offs and growth, the 10 co-ops involved in this project will need an additional 1,000 MW of baseload power generation by 2016. One megawatt can power approximately 600 to 1000 homes for a year.
<top>
Q: What will happen if the power plant is not built?
A: There would be two likely outcomes of not building the plant, and neither is good. The first is that co-ops will have to pay substantially more for the power they buy – meaning members would see their electricity become less and less affordable. Businesses would be at a competitive disadvantage. The second result may be a shortage of electricity in the state. Building the plant is a vital part of a comprehensive program to ensure that Georgia does not experience power shortages in the future.
<top>
Q: Why do you want to build a coal-fired power plant? Don’t those cause pollution?
A: Coal is a proven, reliable and cost-effective way to generate electricity. Tremendous advances in coal technology make it possible to generate more power from less coal, and with lower emissions, than ever before. As proof of the great technological advances made in coal-power technology, consider that the rate of major emissions from coal-based electricity plants has dropped by 50 percent since 1970, while the use of coal has tripled during the same period. This plant will use the best available technologies to increase efficiency and reduce emissions.
<top>
Q: How does a coal-fired plant work?
A: Coal-fired units produce electricity by burning coal to heat water in boilers which produce steam. Under tremendous pressure, the steam flows into a turbine, which spins a generator to produce electricity. The steam is then cooled, condensed back into water, and either discharged or returned to the boiler to start the process over. Some of the water is used for wet scrubbers that substantially lower emissions from the plant.
<top>
Q: I’ve heard of “clean coal” technology. Will this project use such a method?
A: Clean coal technology refers to a number of processes to increase combustion efficiency, lower emissions and even clean the coal itself prior to combustion. This plant will use the best available technologies including flue gas desulfurization, selective catalytic reduction to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions, a filter baghouse for particulate matter and lead reduction, and a high-efficiency supercritical boiler system that allows more power to be generated using less coal. The plant will also use a mixture of low-sulfur western coal and eastern coal.
<top>
Q: How much water will the plant use?
A: The plant is expected to withdraw 13.5 million gallons of water per day on average, and up to 16 million gallons per day at peak. To lessen the environmental impact, the plant will use non-potable water pumped from nearby kaolin mine dewatering for a portion of its water intake (4 million gallons per day). The plant will also use water from a groundwater aquifer and will only use water from the Oconee River when river levels are highest.

Water used by the plant will be cleaned to state surface water standards after use and discharged into the Oconee River; up to 5 millions gallons per day will be returned to the environment. Although the amount of water discharged may be lower during dry periods or cool weather, it will not exceed 5 million gallons per day. The plant will use discharge ponds to keep the discharge relatively consistent but factors such as rain, temperature and raw intake water quality for the cooling tower will determine the number of cycles and discharge rate of the cooling tower.

The difference between water intake and discharge is attributable to the water use necessary for wet scrubbers, the best available emissions control technology for pulverized coal boilers, and water lost to evaporation.
<top>
Q: Isn't that a lot of water?
A: To put water usage into perspective, consider: on an annual basis, the net amount of water used by this power plant to produce electricity for a typical home in Georgia will be less than the amount of water used in that same home for a typical clothes washing machine.
<top>
Q: What is a supercritical boiler?
A: Supercritical power plants are more efficient, resulting in less fuel use and therefore less greenhouse gas production. Supercritical boilers are frequently used for the production of electric power. They operate at "supercritical pressure". In contrast to a "subcritical boiler", a supercritical steam generator operates at such a high pressure (over 3200 PSI) that actual boiling ceases to occur, and the boiler has no water-steam separation. There is no generation of steam bubbles within the water, because the pressure is above the "critical pressure" at which steam bubbles can form. It passes below the critical point as it does work in the high pressure turbine and enters the generator's condenser. More than 400 supercritical facilities have been built around the world, and supercritical boilers are considered a proven technology.
<top>
Q: Coal-fired plants have a reputation for emitting pollutants. How will this plant address these issues?
A: This particular plant will be a highly-efficient super-critical facility. In a nutshell, it requires less than two-thirds the amount of coal and emits less than two-thirds the amount of carbon dioxide to produce the same amount of power as traditional/older coal-fired power plants. The plant will also use the best available emissions control technology.
  • NOx emissions: Emissions are reduced using a combination of low NOx burners, over fire air (OFA) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology.
  • SO2 emissions: SO2 is captured using wet limestone flue gas desulphurization (FGD). The end-product, gypsum, can be recycled for use in products such as wallboard, plaster and fertilizer.
  • Particulate emissions: Particulate matter is removed using an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) as well as a filter baghouse for control of particulate matter (PM and PM 10 – particulate matter 10 microns or smaller), lead and other pollutants.
<top>
Q: In addition to a reduction in emissions, what are some additional benefits of a supercritical plant?
A: There are many benefits; most notably; fuel costs are reduced because improved technology allows the plant to operate more efficiently – somewhat like an automobile that gets more miles to the gallon of gas than a comparable vehicle.
<top>
Q: What do you mean by a “highly-efficient” plant?
A: This term refers to the effectiveness of the thermodynamic process of a coal-fired power plant. The efficiency describes how much of the energy that is fed into the cycle is converted into electrical energy. The greater the output of electrical energy for a given amount of energy input, the higher the efficiency.

Improving efficiency levels increases the amount of energy that can be extracted from a single unit of coal. Already huge improvements have been made - the thermal efficiency of electricity from coal improved eightfold during the 20th century.

<top>
Q: Why not use a fuel source that is renewable, such as wind, solar, etc?
A:

All of the co-ops involved in Power4Georgians support the use of renewable power sources. But at the current time, none of these technologies is sufficient for base load power generation – the steady, daily supply of electricity we use to power our homes and businesses.

Coal-fired power plants such as that planned in Washington County can produce electricity for about 5.8 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is very cost effective. With improving technologies, the costs for green energy should be competitive in the years ahead, but in the foreseeable future, coal clearly remains a highly reliable and affordable source of power.
<top>
Q: What are other issues to consider with regard to renewable/green energy?
A: Space is a huge issue when it comes to renewable energies. For example, wind turbines and large scale solar programs require a substantial footprint to be effective and economical. Coal-fired plants, however, can produce very large quantities of energy on a relatively small footprint.
<top>
Q: What about nuclear power?
A: Through Oglethorpe Power, EMCs own a 30% share of Georgia ’s two nuclear power plants, Vogtle and Hatch. Oglethorpe has signed an agreement that preserves its right to participate on behalf of EMCs, up to its current 30% share, in plans for adding Units 3 and 4 at Plant Vogtle. Nuclear power plants are excellent sources of baseload power generation, although they incur higher initial capital costs for construction than other alternatives. In addition, construction delays are a common occurrence when building nuclear facilities; however, once in service, they have the lowest fuel costs and do not produce any pollutants or greenhouse gases. Nuclear power will continue to be an important part of a balanced power supply portfolio for Georgia EMCs. The need for members of those EMCs participating in Power4Georgians is immediate and exceeds their share of any new capacity from a Vogtle expansion. Delays in opening a plant could negatively impact the availability of electricity.
<top>
Q: What economic benefits will Washington County realize as host community for the project?
A: This project offers a wide range of economic benefits to Washington County . Specifically, the plant will increase the county’s overall tax base by millions of dollars, jobs will be created and the presence of such facilities will be a catalyst for new industry.
<top>
Q: How many jobs will be created?
A: Approximately 120 to 130 full-time, permanent positions will be created by the plant. In addition, more than 1,000 jobs will be created during the construction phase of the project.
<top>

Copyright © 2008 Power4Georgians, LLC. All rights reserved.
Legal Notices and Terms of Use | Report website issues | Update: 20080212a

Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional Valid CSS!