Rock River Generating Station
| Company type | Power generation facility |
|---|---|
| Industry | Energy |
| Founded | 1952 |
| Defunct | April 1, 2010 |
| Fate | Decommissioned and demolished |
| Headquarters | Beloit , United States |
Area served | Wisconsin |
| Owner | Wisconsin Power and Light (subsidiary of Alliant Energy) |
Rock River Generating Station was a power generation facility situated north of Beloit, Wisconsin, within the town of Beloit, precisely at 827 W. B. R. Townline Road on the western shore of the Rock River. The plant was owned and managed by Wisconsin Power and Light, a subsidiary fully controlled by Alliant Energy.
History
Commissioned in the early 1950s, the plant initially featured two Babcock & Wilcox cyclone boiler units, each connected to a steam turbine. Its original design intended for combustion of Illinois Basin bituminous coal delivered via rail or barge; however, it later transitioned to using natural gas and lower sulfur Powder River Basin coal. In 1967, a 30 MW combustion turbine was installed, followed by two additional 50 MW turbines added between 1972 and 1977. By the year 2000, the boilers were capable of burning multiple fuel types, including natural gas, Powder River Basin coal, #2 fuel oil, and tire-derived fuel. Coal consumption ended in 2007 after the fly ash landfill was shut down. The coal-fired boilers of Units 1 and 2 were officially decommissioned on April 1, 2010. Electricity was generated via steam turbines utilizing process water sourced from the Rock River.
During demolition operations on June 25, 2016, a fatality occurred involving a worker; demolition work was projected to be completed by year-end.
Adjacent facilities
Next to the generating station lies an Alliant maintenance facility known as Southern Area and the Riverside Energy Center, a 603 MW combined cycle natural gas power plant that was previously owned by Calpine. On March 31, 2016, approval was granted for constructing a second combined cycle natural gas facility at Riverside Energy Center, thereby increasing generation capacity near the Rock River Generating Station.