Hatfield's Ferry Power Station
| Company type | Power station (coal-fired) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Energy |
| Founded | 1969 |
| Defunct | 2013 |
| Fate | Demolished (2023) |
| Headquarters | Greene County , United States |
| Products | Electricity generation |
| Owner | FirstEnergy (at closure) |
Hatfield's Ferry Power Station was a coal-fired facility with a generation capacity of 1.7 gigawatts (1,700 MW) situated in Greene County, Pennsylvania. Managed by FirstEnergy, the plant commenced operations in 1969 and ceased functioning in 2013. The site’s three emission stacks were demolished through implosion on March 4, 2023, and the remaining boiler building was taken down on November 17, 2023.
History
The construction of Hatfield's Ferry began in 1963, and power generation started six years later under the ownership of Allegheny Energy. Following the merger with Allegheny Energy in 2010, operational control transferred to FirstEnergy.
Environmental mitigation
During the mid-1990s, Allegheny Energy implemented technologies aimed at reducing nitrogen oxide () emissions. In 2001, the plant incorporated a natural gas reburn system alongside a passive wetland treatment designed to manage groundwater contamination from the fly ash landfill. A significant environmental enhancement occurred in 2006 with the installation of a $700 million flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) unit engineered by Babcock & Wilcox. Activated in 2009, this system eliminated approximately 95% of sulfur dioxide () emissions and substantially decreased mercury output, underscoring the company’s dedication to meeting environmental regulations and sustainability goals.
Closure and future plans
On July 9, 2013, FirstEnergy declared that Hatfield's Ferry would shut down by October 9 rather than invest $245 million to upgrade the facility to comply with the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). In April 2017, plans were announced to sell a portion of the property to APV Renaissance Partners Opco, a subsidiary of American Power Ventures LLC. By 2018, APV Renaissance secured the final environmental permit for constructing a new 1,000-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant on the former coal storage area, targeting completion by mid-2022. Nevertheless, reports from June 2022 revealed that the project did not proceed as planned. The demolition of three emission stacks took place on March 4, 2023, followed by removal of the remaining plant structures on November 17, 2023.