Hatfield's Ferry Power Station

Hatfield's Ferry Power Station was a 1.7-gigawatt (1,700 MW), coal power plant located in Greene County, Pennsylvania. The plant was operated by FirstEnergy. It began operations in 1969 and was shut down in 2013. The three emission stacks were imploded March 4, 2023 at 11:00 AM, and the remaining structure, the boiler house, was imploded on November 17, 2023 at 11:00 AM.^[1]

Hatfield's Ferry Power Station
Hatfield's Ferry Power Station in 1978
Country	United States
Location	Greene County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	39°51′20″N 79°55′39″W / 39.85556°N 79.92750°W / 39.85556; -79.92750
Status	Decommissioned
Commission date	1969
Decommission date	Units 1–3: October 9, 2013
Owner(s)	FirstEnergy
Operator(s)	FirstEnergy
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Coal
Cooling source	Monongahela River
Power generation
Nameplate capacity	1,700 MW
External links
Commons	Related media on Commons

History

Hatfield's Ferry's construction commenced in 1963 and began generation in 1969 under the operations of Allegheny Energy.^[2] FirstEnergy assumed operations of Hatfield's Ferry following its merger with Allegheny Energy in 2010.^[3]

Environmental mitigation

In the mid-1990s, Allegheny Energy installed a control system which reduced the plant's nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions. In 2001, Hatfield's Ferry added a natural gas reburn system.^[2] In that same year, Allegheny Energy introduced a passive treatment system where groundwater from the fly ash landfill is treated with wetlands.^[4] Allegheny Energy commissioned a flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) system, designed by Babcock & Wilcox, to be installed at Hatfield's Ferry in 2006.^[5][6] The equipment, which cost $700 million to install, removed 95% of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and lowered mercury emissions at the plant when it was activated in 2009.^[2]

Closure and future plans

On July 9, 2013, FirstEnergy announced they would be shutting down Hatfield's Ferry by October 9. The company decided against investing $245 million to retrofit Hatfield's Ferry in order to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS).^[2] In April 2017, FirstEnergy announced plans to sell part of the power plant site to APV Renaissance Partners Opco, a subsidiary of American Power Ventures LLC.^[7] In 2018 APV Renaissance received the final environmental permit^[8] required to break ground on a new 1,000-megawatt natural gas power plant on the site of the former coal pile.^[9] Completion of the project was expected by mid-2022.^[10][11] However, in June 2022 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette cast doubt on the planned project, reporting that "the plan ultimately fell through."^[12] On March 4, 2023, three emissions stacks were demolished,^[13] and the remainder of the structures were demolished on November 17, 2023.^[1]

Further reading

• Fact sheet: APV Renaissance Partners' 1,000 MW gas-fired power plant 2021-05-10 at the Wayback Machine

See also

•  Pennsylvania portal
•  Energy portal

• List of power stations in Pennsylvania

References

1. TRIB, LIVE (November 17, 2023). "Boiler house imploded at old Hatfield's Ferry Power Station in Greene County". CBS Pittsburgh. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
2. Ferris, Steve (July 9, 2013). "FirstEnergy closing Hatfield's Ferry Power Station". Herald-Standard. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
3. "Allegheny Energy, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date Feb 11, 2010" (PDF). secdatabase.com. February 11, 2010. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
4. Storey, Jerry (April 22, 2001). "Hatfield's Ferry installs wetland treatment facility". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
5. "Allegheny Energy to install scrubbers at Hatfield's Ferry Power Station". Power Engineering. July 13, 2006. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
6. "Hatfield's Ferry Station Units 1, 2 and 3". Babcock & Wilcox. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
7. Moore, Daniel (April 5, 2017). "FirstEnergy sells part of former Hatfield power plant to gas developer". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
8. https://files.dep.state.pa.us/water/wastewater%20management/EDMRPortalFiles/Permits/PA0255297_NPDES_PERMIT_20180509_Final_V2.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
9. Niedbala, Bob. "Company receives final permit for natural gas power plant at Hatfield's Ferry". Observer-Reporter, Washington PA. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
10. Tony, Mike (March 20, 2019). "Groundwater pollutants at former Hatfield's Ferry Power Station cited in environmental report". Herald-Standard, Uniontown PA. Retrieved 10 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
11. . American Power Ventures/APV LLC. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
12. Litvak, Anya (June 14, 2022). "Hulking coal plants coming down across the Pittsburgh region, destined for new life". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
13. "FirstEnergy Demolishes Three Emissions Stacks at Hatfield's Ferry Power Station". FirstEnergy. March 6, 2023. Retrieved 2023-05-17.