Big Sandy Power Plant
| Company type | Power plant |
|---|---|
| Industry | Energy |
| Founded | 1963 |
| Headquarters | Louisa , United States |
Area served | Over 175,000 customers |
| Products | Electricity generation (268 MW capacity) |
| Owner | Kentucky Power Company (a division of American Electric Power) |
Number of employees | 135 |
The Big Sandy Power Plant is a natural gas facility with a generating capacity of 268 megawatt (MW), owned and managed by Kentucky Power Company, a division of American Electric Power (AEP). It is situated along the Big Sandy River close to Louisa, Kentucky. Originally commissioned in 1963, the plant converted from coal to natural gas operations in 2016.
Plant Data
- Workforce: 135 personnel
- Number of customers served: over 175,000
Emissions Data
- CO2 emissions in 2006: 6,830,275 tons
- SO2 emissions in 2006: 46,476 tons
- NOx emissions in 2006: 13,851 tons
- Mercury emissions in 2005: 281 pounds
In 2009, the facility was ranked 40th among the top 100 coal-fired plants nationwide for Coal Combustion Waste (CCW) stored in surface impoundments, having released 915,079 pounds of such waste in 2006. The EPA designated its Fly Ash impoundment as having a High Hazard Potential Rating in June 2009 due to possible consequences if the dam were to fail; however, the probability of failure was not evaluated.
These emissions and waste figures are derived from the EPA's 2006 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI).
Conversion to natural gas
In 2011, AEP, the plant's owner, announced intentions to transition from coal to natural gas with goals of lowering fuel expenses, reducing greenhouse gas output, and decreasing airborne pollutants. The following year, AEP proposed a $1 billion modernization project aimed at continuing coal use and requested approval from Kentucky regulators for a 30% increase in electricity rates to finance this plan.
The conversion to natural gas was finalized on May 30, 2016. Afterwards, on September 24, 2016, Unit 2's cooling tower was brought down through implosion.
External links
- Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2005, Energy Information Administration, accessed January 2009.
- Environmental Integrity Project, "Dirty Kilowatts: America's Most Polluting Power Plants", July 2007.
- Facility Registry System, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, accessed January 2009.
- Energy infrastructure completed in 1963
- Energy infrastructure completed in 1969
- Buildings and structures in Lawrence County, Kentucky
- 1963 establishments in Kentucky
- Natural gas-fired power stations in Kentucky
- Former coal-fired power stations in the United States
- American Electric Power
- Big Sandy River (Ohio River tributary)