New Power Plant Under Construction

The new 200-MW unit, employing a Foster Wheeler pulverized coal boiler, will replace 76-MW of old coal-fired technology—the utility's two Lakeside turbine generators. Lakeside Units #6 and #7, CWLP's oldest still-operating turbine generators, were placed into service in 1961 and 1965, respectively. They will be retired after the new plant becomes operational.

The new generating station is expected to cost approximately 20% less to operate per megawatt-hour than the most efficient of the three existing Dallman units.

The new plant will employ a number of environmental control technologies, including low NOx burners for the boiler; a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system for additional NOx removal; powder activated carbon injection for mercury removal; a fabric filter baghouse to remove fine particulate; a wet flue gas desulfurization unit (scrubber) for the removal of SO2; and a wet electrostatic precipitator to remove acid mist and ultra-fine particulate from the flue gas. This equipment will assist CWLP in its goal of becoming one of the most environmentally friendly primarily coal-fired electric utilities in the nation.

The pollution control measures, as well as several other program enhancements being planned by the utility, will enable CWLP to cut greenhouse gas emissions sufficiently to meet the goals of reducing CO2 emissions to below 1990 levels and complying with the State of Illinois' proposal to reduce mercury emissions by 90% by 2009. As part of its commitment to protect the environment, CWLP will make pollution control improvements to the existing Dallman units; increase its investment in consumer energy efficiency programs; and purchase up to 120 MW of wind power each year.

Air emission controls aren't the only way the new power plant will complement the utility's efforts to protect and preserve the environment. By utilizing state-of-the-art cooling towers, CWLP will be able to avoid discharging high-temperature water from the plant into Lake Springfield.

During its estimated 42-month construction phase, the new plant is expected to employ as many as 700 workers representing nearly a dozen local labor unions.

KBV Springfield Power Partners is serving as general contractor for the construction project. The plant was designed by Black & Veatch.

Unit 4 Fun Facts
1.	The unit will burn 700,000 tons (1.4 billion pounds) of Illinois coal each year.
2.	The demand for coal will support 80 new mining jobs in Illinois.
3.	Approximately 40 permanent jobs will be needed to support the long-term operation and maintenance of the facility.
4.	In constructing the facility:
	- 644 pier foundations were drilled
	- 21,500 cubic yards of concrete were poured
	- 7,100 tons of steel will be used
5.	The 8.8-million-pound Unit 4 boiler is hung from the top of the building.
6.	The facility will have three coal silos, each of which will hold 650 tons of coal.
7.	One of the unit's environmental controls, a pulse jet fabric filter baghouse, will contain over 6,600 26-foot-long bags that will collect fine particulate from the flue gas.
8.	At 440 feet in height, the Unit 4 chimney is the second tallest structure in Springfield. (The Unit 3 chimney is the tallest; the Units 1 and 2 chimney is third tallest; and the State Capitol is fourth.) Construction of the Unit 4 chimney required only 28 days, 3 hours.

This photo, taken in August 2006, shows the land clearing and other pre-construction work for the new plant that began several months earlier. The cleared area in the foreground of this photo indicates the new plant site. The existing Dallman Power Station facilities are located just right of photo-center. Part of the dark-brick Lakeside Power Station, which will be retired when the new plant becomes operational, can be seen at the far left. (Photo by Terry Farmer)

The construction site as it appeared on January 12, 2007. (Photo by Terry Farmer)

A 280-foot crane towers over the Unit 4 construction site. This photo was taken in early January 2007 from the Dallman 3 stack, looking west.

On February 22, 2007, workers poured nearly 1,200 yards of concrete, requiring approximately 133 truck deliveries. This project, which created the boiler footings for the new plant, was the first of several foundation installations that will be required during the construction period.

In this aerial photo, taken March 1, 2007, the rectangular grey cement area in the center of the construction site, just right of the crane support leg, is the boiler footing that was poured on February 22. The rectangular area to the left of the crane leg is another section of the boiler foundation, which is expected to be poured on March 22. At the far right center of the photo, the dark grey circular area surrounded by a reddish-colored exterior is the foundation for the plant stack. (Photo by Terry Farmer)

This aerial photo was taken April 25, 2007, looking north. In the foreground, work is just beginning on construction of the Unit 4 stack. The white concrete area north of the stack is the foundation mat for the air quality control system (AQCS), while north of that are the five sections of the boiler foundation. Concrete for boiler foundation sections two and four had yet to be poured when this photo was taken. The tall black structure rising from the northern-most section (section one) of the boiler footing is one of the four side forms for large concrete columns that will support the turbine and generator. (Photo by Terry Farmer)

Watch Her Grow! Construction of the Unit 4 stack (below) is taking place at lightning speed. With crews working around the clock, the tower is now growing in height by an average of 17 inches an hour. These photos, taken less than 24-hours apart (on May 6 and 7), show how quickly the growth is occurring. On May 7, the stack was 165 feet tall; on May 12, it was 257 feet tall; by 6 a.m. on May 15, it stood at 320 feet; and by 9 a.m. the following day, it was 330 feet high. When completed, the stack will be 440 feet tall, with a 38 foot diameter. Altogether, the outer "skin" will require 1,800 cubic yards of concrete and 270,000 pounds of reinforcing steel. The interior of the chimney will include 84,000 pounds of structural steel, approximately 450 linear feet of 15-foot fiberglass reinforced pipe, 6 grated platforms, one elevator and a 450 foot safety ladder.

On May 15, the final part (section two) of the Unit 4 boiler footing was poured. Note the green hue of the freshly poured concrete.

Erection of the structural steel skeleton of the main plant building, which will house the boiler and turbine, was well underway when this photo was taken from the Unit 4 stack on July 24, 2007. The large open area in the center of the building is where the boiler will be located, while the upper-most section of the building will house the turbine. Just north of the structure, you can see the plant's steam condenser, which will eventually be lifted into its permanent place inside the building.

This July 24, 2007, photo shows the frame of the fabric filter baghouse, located just south of the main plant building. The dark orange objects at photo-left are the baghouse walls, which are waiting to be attached to the steel frame. The baghouse, one of the plant's state-of-the-art environmental control technologies, will remove fine particulates from the flue gas. The circular object at photo-right is the foundation of the absorber slurry holding tank for the Unit 4 SO2 scrubber, which is yet to be built.
From the first day of construction through July 25, 2007, KBV (the general construction contractor) has installed approximately 1300 tons of steel, 926 tons of rebar, and 9700 yards of concrete.

On August 23, 2007, the Unit 4 generator arrived at the plant site. The generator weighs approximately a half-million pounds (250 tons) and is 28 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 14 feet high, making it the largest piece of equipment brought on site for the new 200 MW facility. Transporting the generator to the plant required a 320-wheel rig that also weighed about 250 tons.


       These photos, taken in February 2008, show how far construction
       has progressed. In the far left corner of the building in the photo
       above and far right corner of the photo below, you can see that
       sheet metal siding has begun to be applied to the steel framework.
       (Photo by Terry Farmer)

(1) The lower red pipe is the primary duct used to heat coal mills and transport pulverized coal to the coal burners. It has a diameter of more than 8 feet. The upper red duct is the overfire air duct that provides additional combustion air to the boiler to ensure complete coal combustion. It has a diameter of 7.5 feet and is located approximately 81 feet (about 8 stories) above ground level.

(2) At the top center of this photo, you can see the end of the overfire air duct pic- tured in Photo #1 above. The red equipment pictured in the left half of the photo are 5 of the 9 coal burners that will ultimately be in-stalled. The gray pipes at bottom left are coal conduits that will carry coal to the burners. The red pipe running vertically on the right side of the photo is called a "down corner." It will circulate water from the bottom to the top of the boiler as water is heated and rises.

(3)

The red piece of equipment at the top of the photo is the steam drum. It will separate water from steam in order to prepare it for use in the steam turbine. The steam drum is located 164 feet (about 16 stories) above ground level.

(4)

This photo depicts two important components of Unit 4's environmental control system. The brownish-orange structure is the pulse jet fabric filter. Over 6,600 filter bags enclosed inside this structure will remove dust and mercury from the boiler flue gas before the "smoke" is released into the air. Next, the flue gas will pass through the SO2 scrubber/ absorber, the milk can-shaped structure pictured to the right of the pulse jet fabric filter. (The upper portion of the scrubber/absorber is pictured below in Photo #5.) The purpose of the scrubber/absorber is to remove sulfur dioxide from the flue gas. To the far right of the photo, you can see a portion of the Unit 4 smoke stack.

(5)

The top section of the SO2 scrubber/absorber will eventually be lifted into position atop the milk can shaped structure pictured in Photo #4 above. Once completed, the scrubber will be approximately 120 feet tall.

(6)

The cylindrical portion of the limestone ball mill holds steel balls that will crush rock limestone to a powder consistency for use in the SO2 scrubber/absorber. The limestone powder can then be mixed with water, forming a "slurry" that will be sprayed through the flue gas stream to remove sulfur dioxide.

(7)
These four tanks will hold various liquids required in the air quality control process. From left to right, the tanks are: (a) limestone slurry storage tank, which is 32 feet in diameter and 34 feet tall and will hold 150,000 gallons; (b) reclaim water tank, which is 33 feet in diameter and 35 feet tall and will hold 171,000 gallons; (c) demineralizer water tank, which is 26 feet in diameter and 32 feet tall and will hold 127,000 gallons; and (d) slurry holding tank, which is 50 feet in diameter and 52 feet tall and will hold 600,000 gallons.

(8) The electrostatic precipitator pictured here is the last environmental device through which Unit 4 flue gas will pass before entering the stack for release into the atmo-sphere. The precipitator will collect acid mist and fine particulate that are not captured by the pulse jet fabric filter or the scrubber. Once in position between the top of the scrubber and the stack inlet, this 24 foot by 27 foot device will be located about 140 feet above ground level.

(1) Workers weld together sections of the boron mitigation effluent tank. The rectangular structure to the right is the clarifier building for the boron mitigation project.

(2) A crane lifts rebar to the top of the fly ash silo. In the back-ground is the steel framework of the boiler building.

(4)

When Unit 4 is completed, more than 1.7 million feet of electrical wire will run throughout the plant.

(5)

Although the steel siding had begun to be applied to portions of the plant, the structural steel frameworks of significant sections, including the boiler and air quality control buildings remained bare on July 31, 2008.

The two aerial photos below show the progress made in applying exterior finishes to the plant between September 1 (top) and November 5, 2008 (bottom). (Photos by Terry Farmer)