Oak Creek Power Plant Explained

Oak Creek Power Plant
Country:United States
Location:Oak Creek, Wisconsin
Coordinates:42.8444°N -87.8286°W
Owner:We Energies
Status:O
Th Fuel Primary:Sub-bituminous coal
Ps Cooling Source:Lake Michigan
Ps Units Operational:1 x 261 MW
1 x 264 MW
1 x 298 MW
1 x 312 MW
2 x 634 MW
Ps Electrical Capacity:South Oak Creek
1,135 MWe
Elm Road Generation Station
1,268 megawatts
Ps Annual Generation:Total (All Fuels, GWh)
2018 - 12,681
2019 - 11,384
2020 - 10,783
2021 - 12,180
Commissioned:Unit 5: December, 1959
Unit 6: December, 1961
Unit 7: March, 1965
Unit 8: October, 1967
Unit 9 (gas-fired): December, 1968

Unit 1 (Elm Road): 2010Unit 2 (Elm Road): 2011
Decommissioned:Units 1–4: 1980s
Planned closure of Units 5 & 6 May 2024
Planned closure of Units 7 & 8 2025

Oak Creek Power Plant, also known as South Oak Creek, is a base load, coal- and natural gas-fired, electrical power station located on Lake Michigan in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Oak Creek Power Plant along with Elm Road Generation Station make up the entire Oak Creek Generating Site.

The plant was built for an initial cost of $246 million.[1] It is located on over of land on the border of Milwaukee and Racine counties.

Advanced Air Quality Control Systems (AQCS) were installed in 2012 for $750 million on all four generating units. In 2009, it was listed as the third largest generating station in Wisconsin with a net summer capacity of 1,135 MW.[2] [3] The plant consumes between 6,000 and 6,400 tons of coal daily depending on system demands.[4]

In 2018, the plant was listed as the fifth largest generation station in Wisconsin with an annual generation of 4,767,153 MW-h, behind Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant (10,128,796 MW-h), Elm Road Generating Station (7,913,698 MW-h), Columbia (6,641,670 MW-h), and Port Washington Generating Station (5,829,109 MW-h).[5]

On November 6, 2020 - A plan was announced that includes the retirement of the 1,100-megawatt South Oak Creek coal plant in southeastern Wisconsin over the next five years. Units 5 and 6 at South Oak Creek would be shut down in 2023 while units 7 and 8 will be shut down by 2024. [6] The closures have since been delayed to May 2024 for Units 5 and 6 and late 2025 for Units 7 and 8.[7]

Expansion

In 2005, two 615-megawatt coal-fueled units were constructed just north of the existing Oak Creek facility. Unit 1 began commercial operation on February 2, 2010.[8] with Unit 2 following in 2011.

Units

UnitCapacity (MW)CommissioningNotes
1–41950sRetired in the 1980s
51959Plans announced to stop burning coal by 2035.[9]
61961Plans announced to stop burning coal by 2035.
71965Plans announced to stop burning coal by 2035.
81967Plans announced to stop burning coal by 2035.
9181968Natural gas combustion turbine for startup / standby power

Electricity Production

In 2021, Oak Creek Power Station (South Oak Creek Power Plant and Elm Road Generating Station combined) generated 12,180 GWh, approximately 19.46% of the total electric power generated in Wisconsin (62,584 GWh)[10] for that year. The South Oak Creek Power Plant (coal only) had a 2021 annual capacity factor of 61.65% and the Elm Road Generating Station (coal only) had a 2021 annual capacity factor of 69.26%.

Generation (MW-h) of South Oak Creek Power Plant[11] !Year!Jan!Feb!Mar!Apr!May!Jun!Jul!Aug!Sep!Oct!Nov!Dec!Annual (Total)
2001594,828386,288578,131436,293420,042498,311581,496616,278550,459425,936381,037387,9895,857,088
2002313,742278,455343,737437,303504,601508,723656,861573,386591,802395,956366,701348,8975,320,164
2003483,785543,226403,931400,037341,862486,333558,267517,715502,669611,095512,605521,0295,882,554
2004515,520492,324509,888547,422620,759505,487563,217599,107518,928594,649603,603604,7976,675,701
2005419,601483,080512,637309,243466,286582,895534,209525,192478,640522,034457,986538,7345,830,537
2006514,164468,906397,968528,270428,392508,887620,495630,081455,471415,290433,711413,6655,815,300
2007436,879308,027472,268467,187291,119438,908439,940502,457522,073604,577537,923609,7855,631,143
2008644,337465,184488,251473,011483,015458,519575,589589,011504,101313,027299,315539,6415,833,001
2009418,354366,090371,469208,214255,481205,145370,662396,817354,979527,799437,597486,9234,399,530
2010520,479368,245393,771294,137354,652359,665449,634486,374406,908363,753279,763482,5644,759,945
2011449,824394,542482,445415,671382,364480,110500,914563,176520,005559,962195,935407,2155,352,163
2012251,662270,999313,845294,545200,395358,738314,430351,105476,262329,305366,571449,5423,977,399
2013429,890447,066234,966294,847508,249509,382583,892371,217363,135335,769305,937362,4754,746,825
2014497,979451,409422,053373,703256,698335,200442,912437,966458,636389,758-1,058236,2044,301,460
2015590,000417,363376,365220,173382,773452,601534,681558,386576,651377,010306,992367,2675,160,262
2016450,687138,721237,137254,619259,392350,326454,283528,469371,782249,577230,720304,7343,830,447
2017431,400299,247228,334239,290434,147418,572435,904577,898381,171380,547470,289398,5394,695,338
2018464,871455,040168,219265,170206,501407,102523,526528,979472,707411,130321,556508,3484,733,149
2019571,936414,278396,974255,313550,961--347,115483,216139,45355,092238,098337,7353,790,171
2020336,925162,630152,37452,59748,356309,385527,558353,924239,277267,058250,114320,1693,020,367
2021504,605414,046349,688349,700232,464141,575559,304502,534387,127385,858369,384253,5994,449,884
2022371,242328,695304,499251,093312,481344,032406,326321,783221,459174,093142,192208,5743,386,470
2023291,638117,98543,790014,804
Subnotes:

(1) : Table data reflects electrical generation from coal fuels only (subbituminous coal, refined coal). The plant also generates a minor amount of electricity (less than 1%) from natural gas.

(2) : Major fuel changed from subbituminous coal to refined coal in January 2016. The major fuel changed back to subbituminous coal in March 2022 .

Generation (MW-h) of Elm Road Generating Station[12] !Year!Jan!Feb!Mar!Apr!May!Jun!Jul!Aug!Sep!Oct!Nov!Dec!Annual (Total)
2010048,568-1,84049,662201,912154,065223,3511,65626,96942,664340,628331,7111,419,346
2011509,557375,435444,647433,011274,068512,028635,325522,383276,89699,558345,775315,3624,744,045
2012216,96259,442198,746221,462156,84567,051415,510573,29859,5170-11,079-12,6981,945,056
2013163,875265,68470,3688,213347,684348,443644,009465,133300,761-8,772157,720559,0773,322,195
2014714,311426,494366,194645,674641,388697,290531,564765,127433,923171,078607,447782,8486,783,338
2015689,718563,248488,205542,180733,797582,022742,283658,592397,922415,376697,745583,2677,094,355
2016607,163741,395631,347668,285383,667785,660835,455867,693660,693176,967574,292879,8697,812,486
2017905,955798,714782,578521,480443,478635,060883,074490,738519,759382,538453,522552,6877,369,583
2018442,866479,164534,132711,323661,782677,270858,066781,569528,178585,734753,872876,2527,890,208
2019637,419771,005523,369534,925428,6160739,105817,677765,115804,830723,552812,8447,558,457
2020561,777766,579822,821487,910590,824691,849920,085918,006841,132531,151422,459178,1937,732,786
2021566,469793,448909,124492,576913,375891,823907,844898,235669,305301,026-2,183353,9217,694,963
2022674,073632,632489,365479,334378,274273,575667,146734,253422,028106,308401,028658,2075,916,223
2023493,599498,291729,680297,084447,144
Subnotes:

1. Table data reflects electrical generation from all coal fuels only (bituminous coal, subbituminous coal, and refined coal). The plant also generates a minor amount of electricity (less than 1%) from natural gas.

Incidents

On February 3, 2009, six contract workers were injured when coal dust ignited in a 65-foot coal dust silo on the power plant site. They had been preparing the structure for repairs when an unknown source ignited coal dust that had accumulated at the top of the silo. All suffered burns.[13]

On October 31, 2011, a bluff area roughly the size of a football field and 200 feet above the level of Lake Michigan eroded, washing mud and debris into Lake Michigan. Close to 100 workers were at the site at the time of the collapse; none were hurt or killed.[14] [15] [16]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant. 2020-07-12. www.we-energies.com. en.
  2. Web site: Oak Creek Power Plant . . February 2010 . May 15, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110717233115/http://www.we-energies.com/home/OakCreek.pdf . July 17, 2011 .
  3. Web site: Wisconsin – Ten Largest Plants by Generating Capacity, 2009 . 2009 . . May 15, 2011.
  4. Web site: We Energies Elm Road Generating Station. 2020-07-12. www.we-energies.com. en.
  5. Web site: EIA - State Electricity Profiles. 2020-07-12. www.eia.gov.
  6. Web site: Partial Closure of Oak Creek Power Plant Planned . WGTD.org . Wisconsin Public Radio . 29 September 2021.
  7. Web site: Conway . Brendan . We Energies announces new timeline for Oak Creek plant retirements . We Energies News . 21 August 2023 . 23 June 2022.
  8. Web site: Elm Road Generating Station . Bechtel Corporation . https://web.archive.org/web/20090122010101/http://www.bechtel.com/elm%2Droad%2Dgenerating%2Dstaton.html . dead . January 22, 2009 .
  9. Web site: Journal . Chris Hubbuch Wisconsin State . Utility plans to swap coal for gas draw mixed reviews . 2022-09-07 . madison.com . en.
  10. Web site: Electricity Data Browser . 2023-01-15 . www.eia.gov.
  11. Web site: Electricity Data Browser . 2023-01-15 . www.eia.gov.
  12. Web site: Electricity Data Browser . 2023-01-15 . www.eia.gov.
  13. Web site: We Energies coal dust silo explosion injures 6 workers . 2022-08-09 . www.jsonline.com . en.
  14. Web site: Bluff collapse at power plant sends dirt, coal ash into lake . 2022-08-09 . www.jsonline.com . en.
  15. Web site: 2011-11-01 . Bluff Collapses at WE Energies Power Station on Lake Michigan Shore in Oak Creek, Wisconsin . 2022-08-09 . Cardinal News . en-US.
  16. Web site: 2012-04-25 . The Day After: We Energies Bluff Collapse Roundup - Oak Creek, WI Patch . https://web.archive.org/web/20120425154809/http://oakcreek.patch.com/articles/the-day-after-we-energies-bluff-collapse-roundup . 2012-04-25 . 2022-08-09 .

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