New England’s final coal-fired power plant is scheduled to shut down by June 2028 in an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and after a long-running dispute with New Hampshire environmentalists.
Granite Shore Power, which operates peaking and intermittent power generation in the ISO-New England regional power grid, announced last week (Mar. 27) that it would close the 482-MW Merrimack plant in Bow, N.H. As part of the deal with the EPA, the generating company said it would convert the Merrimack site into a “renewable energy park,” featuring solar generation.
The elderly plant has long been a target of environmentalists because of its once-through cooling system, which they charge has heated the water of the Merrimack River in violation of the Clean Water Act. Eversource (formerly Public Service of New Hampshire) sold its generating assets to a private investment group, a joint venture of Castleton Commodities International and Atlas Holdings, which became Granite Shore Power, in January 2018.
The Sierra Club and the Conservation Law Foundation in March 2019 sued both Eversource and Granite Shore Power under the Clean Water Act for its alleged thermal pollution.
Built in the 1960s to serve baseload, the plant consists of two coal-fired units and two kerosene-fueled combustion turbines. It no longer operates fully, only about 10% of the time. The company describes its current role: “The two coal-fired units serve as seasonal and peak demand resources. The two combustion turbine units primarily serve peaking roles, operating during periods of extreme intermittent demand and when generation is needed quickly to maintain electrical system stability on the grid.”
As part of its deal with the EPA, Granite Shore Power also said it would formally shutter the 155-MW Schiller station this year. Schiller has not operated for several years. The plant has two units that can fire either coal or oil, next year. The company will use the Schiller site for a battery energy storage project.
The remainder of Granite Shore’s generating fleet consists of the 400-MW Newington station, powered by oil and gas boilers, the 14-MW Lost Nation gas-fired combustion turbine, and the 18-MW White Lake combustion turbine. All are load-following and peaking units.
Jim Andrews, Granite Shore CEO, said, “From our earliest days as owners and operators, we have been crystal clear; while our power occasionally is still on during New England’s warmest days and coldest nights, we were firmly committed to transitioning our facilities away from coal and into a newer, cleaner energy future. By pursuing and ultimately entering into this voluntary agreement with the U.S. EPA, we are keeping that commitment.”
Ben Jealous, Sierra Club executive director and former head of the NAACP, said in a statement, “This historic victory is a testament to the strength and resolve of those who never wavered in the fight for their communities and future. The people of New Hampshire and all of New England will soon breathe cleaner air and drink safer water.”
According to the Sierra Club, New Hampshire becomes the 16th coal-free state, and the 12th since the club launched its “Beyond Coal” campaign in 2010. Most of the credit for the demise of coal-fired power in the U.S. goes to the development of hydraulic fracking and the rise of natural gas, not to environmental group pressure. New England joins the Pacific Northwest, with its plentiful hydro resources, as the nation’s two coal-free regions.
DOE funds three big coal-to-renewables projects
The Department of Energy is awarding projects in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania that will convert former coal mined land into renewable energy projects, through its “Clean Energy Demonstration Program on Current and Former Mine Land.
The largest award is $129 million to the Nicholas County Solar Project, a planned 250-MW photovoltaic generator with 75 MW of battery storage on land in central West Virginia, where two former coal mines used mountaintop removal to get at the coal reserves. The site is 3,000 acres. The project, with an estimated cost in 2022 of $320 million, is being developed by Kansas City-based Savion LLC, a Shell subsidiary. The project would be the largest solar development in the coal-rich state, by a factor of 10. It will connect to FirstEnergy’s high-voltage transmission system at an adjacent substation. The developer estimates the project will be in service in 2026.
In Kentucky, the Lewis Ridge Project, a coal-to-pumped storage hydro project, will get $81 million for a 287-MW closed-loop project being developed on former mine land estimated to cost $1.5 billion. The project is owned by Rye Development LLC, a major hydro developer based in West Palm Beach, Fla., and affiliated with France’s EDF. The project is located adjacent to the Cumberland River. The project has a preliminary permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Rye expects to submit a draft license to FERC in this year’s third quarter, with approval from the regulators in the 2027 second quarter, and operation beginning in 2031.
In Pennsylvania, the Mineral Basin Solar Project will get $90 million for a 402-MW solar farm on reclaimed mine land in central Pa. 20 miles west of State College, home of Penn State university. The project is sited next to the closed Homer City coal-fired generator, once the largest coal-fired plant in the historically important coal state. The $475 million project will become the largest solar installation in the state. The power will flow to the New York ISO. The award goes to a subsidiary of Boston-based Swift Current Energy, an aggressive solar developer with about 10 GW of commercialized projects on its books.
–Kennedy Maize