Big Brown Power Plant
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Power generation |
| Founded | 1971 |
| Founder | Texas Utilities |
| Defunct | 2018 |
| Fate | Retired/closed |
| Successor | None |
| Headquarters | Fairfield, Texas , United States |
Area served | Texas |
Key people | Luminant (operator), Vistra Corp (parent company) |
| Products | Electricity generation (coal-fired) |
| Owner | Vistra Corp |
| Parent | Vistra Corp |
Big Brown Power Plant was a coal-fired facility with a generating capacity of 1.15 gigawatts (1,150 MW), situated northeast of Fairfield, Texas, close to Fairfield Lake State Park in Freestone County, Texas. The plant was managed by Luminant, a division of Vistra Corp, and remained operational from 1971 until 2018.
History
Built by Texas Utilities, which later became Luminant, Big Brown commenced operations in 1971 with two generating units. Initially, the plant utilized lignite sourced from the adjacent Turlington Mine; however, it later incorporated coal from the Rawhide Mine in Wyoming's Powder River Basin, operated by Peabody Energy. Beginning in 2000, Powder River Basin coal was blended with lignite to enhance the fuel supply and compensate for the declining lignite output.
The facility underwent environmental improvements such as the addition of LO-NOx burners in 2001 aimed at reducing nitrogen oxide emissions. Furthermore, selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) technology was installed during 2008 as part of emission control efforts. In 2011, the plant was temporarily taken offline for boiler maintenance to meet requirements set by the EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, which targeted reductions in sulfur dioxide emissions. This downtime also resulted in a pause in lignite mining at Turlington Mine.
By 2014, dwindling lignite reserves at Turlington prompted Luminant to plan for the mine’s closure by 2018 and transition exclusively to Powder River Basin coal as fuel.
Closure
On October 13, 2017, Luminant revealed intentions to either sell or retire the Big Brown power station in early 2018 due to financial challenges including low natural gas prices and a rise in renewable energy generation. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) granted approval for the closure in November 2017 after determining that the two-unit Big Brown facility was "not required to support ERCOT transmission system reliability." ERCOT authorized the plant’s shutdown by February 12, 2018.