J. Robert Welsh Power Plant
J. Robert Welsh Power Plant is a 1-gigawatt (1,056 MW), coal power plant located east of Pittsburg, Texas in Titus County, Texas. It is operated by SWEPCO, a subsidiary of AEP. The plant is named after J. Robert Welsh, a former President and Board Chairman of SWEPCO.[1]
J. Robert Welsh Power Plant | |
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![]() J. Robert Welsh Power Plant | |
Country | United States |
Location | Titus County, Texas, near Pittsburg, Texas |
Coordinates | 33°03′18″N 94°50′22″W |
Status | Operational |
Commission date | Unit 1: 1977 Unit 2: 1980 Unit 3: 1982 |
Decommission date | Unit 2: 2016 |
Owner(s) | SWEPCO/AEP |
Thermal power station | |
Primary fuel | Powder River Basin sub-bituminous coal |
Cooling source | Welsh Reservoir |
Power generation | |
Units operational | 2 |
Nameplate capacity | 1,056 MW |
History
Welsh Power Plant had three units constructed: Unit 1 began operations in 1977, Unit 2 began operations in 1980, and Unit 3 began operations in 1982. All three units were installed with boilers from Babcock & Wilcox and turbines from Westinghouse. Combined, the three units had an operating capacity of 1,674 MW.[2]
In 2012, AEP announced they were reducing output at Unit 2 to coincide with the commencement of commercial operations at John W. Turk Jr. Coal Plant in Arkansas.[3] Unit 2 was officially decommissioned in April 2016 as a part of a major retrofitting project to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for Units 1 and 3.[4] It is currently scheduled to stop burning coal in 2028.[5]
The remaining two units use sub-bituminous coal mined from the Powder River Basin shipped via rail. Close to it, there is Welsh HVDC Converter Station, a back-to-back HVDC station.[6]
See also
References
- "Welsh Power Plant Retrofit Project". Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- "Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2006" (Excel). Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy. 2006. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
- "AEP unit to reduce Texas Welsh 2 coal-fired unit to 60 percent". Reuters. December 21, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
- "Welsh Power Plant Environmental Retrofit Project". SWEPCO. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
- "More than 23 GW of coal capacity to retire in 2028 as plant closures accelerate". www.spglobal.com. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
- Directors, Clarion Energy Content (2015-06-29). "AEP taps Siemens to modernize HVDC system Welsh in Texas". POWERGRID International. Retrieved 2022-08-05.