State-of-the-Art Emissions Scrubbers at Constellation Energy's Brandon Shores Power Plant Commence Commercial Operation
BALTIMORE, Mar 01, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) today announced that its flue gas desulfurization or "scrubber" project at its Brandon Shores Power Plant in Anne Arundel County, Md., has begun commercial operation, making Brandon Shores one of the cleanest-burning power plants of its kind in the nation.
This nearly $1 billion investment is one component of a clean air program which will ensure Constellation Energy's coal-fired power plants will meet all emissions requirements of Maryland's Healthy Air Act, which was signed into law in 2006. Constellation Energy's investment in this environmental upgrade will reduce the coal-fired power plant's sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions by an estimated 95 percent and existing mercury emissions by 90 percent.
"Constellation Energy has a long and demonstrated commitment to environmental stewardship throughout the communities in which we live, work and do business," said Mayo A. Shattuck III, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Constellation Energy. "Over the past decade, we've made a number of major environmental investments and improvements at our generating facilities, and the Brandon Shores scrubber project represents one of the most notable steps in our environmental stewardship efforts. The completion of this project illustrates our commitment to investing in the latest clean air and environmental technology as part of a broad and ongoing effort to make our generating facilities as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible."
Scrubbers work by spraying a mixture of limestone and water into gases created during the coal combustion process. As sulfur dioxide in the gases comes in contact with the mixture, it is absorbed and neutralized by the limestone to produce gypsum, a useful additive to concrete or for the production of wallboard. The scrubber project also resulted in the construction of a new emissions stack that produces a visible plume of harmless water vapor emitted as part of the "scrubbing" process. The two existing larger emissions stacks at the Brandon Shores plant have been sealed and capped off and taken out of service but will remain in place.
Constellation Energy's clean air program includes several additional environmental upgrades at the Brandon Shores plant, including the installation of baghouses to remove particulates, as well as sorbent injection technology, which removes mercury and sulfuric acid mist from the plant's emissions. Constellation Energy also previously installed a selective catalytic reduction system at Brandon Shores, which significantly lowers nitrogen oxide emissions.
Even with scrubber technology, Brandon Shores, as all coal power plants, will still produce carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. Constellation Energy strongly supports actions and policies to address these emissions, including new laws and incentives, energy efficiency, and new investment in the cleanest of energy technologies such as nuclear, wind and solar.
Construction on the scrubber project took three years to complete and included nearly four million man-hours of work from representatives of the Baltimore Building and Construction Trades Council.
About Constellation Energy
Constellation Energy (www.constellation.com) is a leading supplier of energy products and services to wholesale and retail electric and natural gas customers. It owns a diversified fleet of generating units located in the United States and Canada, totaling approximately 7,100 megawatts of generating capacity, and is among the leaders pursuing the development of new nuclear plants in the United States. The company delivers electricity and natural gas through the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE), its regulated utility in Central Maryland. A FORTUNE 500 company headquartered in Baltimore, Constellation Energy had revenues of $15.6 billion in 2009.
SOURCE: Constellation Energy
Constellation Energy
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