W.A. Parish Generating Station | |
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Country | United States |
Location | Thompsons, Texas |
Coordinates | 29°28′34″N 95°38′0″W / 29.47611°N 95.63333°W |
Status | Operational |
Owner(s) | NRG Energy |
Thermal power station | |
Primary fuel | Coal |
Secondary fuel | Natural gas |
Cooling source | Smithers Lake |
Power generation | |
Nameplate capacity | 3,653 MW |
External links | |
Commons | Related media on Commons |
The W.A. Parish Generating Station is a 3.65-gigawatt (3,653 MW), dual-fired power plant located near Thompsons, Texas. The station occupies a 4,664-acre site near Smithers Lake southwest of Houston in Fort Bend County and consists of two four-unit plants; one natural gas and the other coal (2,697 MW). [1] With a total installed capacity of 3,653 MW, it is the second largest conventional power station in the US, and supplies about fifteen percent of the energy in the Houston area. [2] [3] NRG Energy owns and operates the plant. [1]
The Powder River Basin supplies three 115-car trainloads worth of low-sulfur coal to units 5-8 or 36,000 tons daily. [4] [5]
Completed in January 2017, the post-combustion [6] Petra Nova Carbon Capture Project became largest installed on an existing power plant in the world. [7] [8] The system pumped 1.6 million tons of filtered carbon dioxide (CO2) from unit 8 to the West Ranch Oil Field 82 miles away in Jackson County. [9] [10] Since the system is powered by natural gas, it was originally expected to have a net effect of not releasing 785,000 tons of carbon annually. [11] The system cost approximately $1 billion, [12] but was idled from May 2020 to September 2023 due to the low price of oil during the COVID-19 pandemic. [13] [14]
Adjacent to Parish Station is the natural gas Brazos Valley Power Plant owned by Calpine Energy which opened in 2003. [15]
During the 2021 Texas power crisis, Parish Station was reported to have experienced up to a 664 MW loss in generation capacity, including an 80 MW decrease in capacity early in the crisis that contributed to the need for rolling blackouts. [16]
The Unit 8 turbine, which has a generating capacity of 610 MW, caught fire the night of May 8, 2022. While there were no injuries reported during the fire, [17] a chemical exposure incident during the repairs briefly hospitalized six workers. [18] The turbine was heavily damaged and remained offline as of August 2023. [19] Unit 8 was originally expected to be repaired by May 7, 2023. [20]
W.A. Parish Generating Station | |
---|---|
| |
Country | United States |
Location | Thompsons, Texas |
Coordinates | 29°28′34″N 95°38′0″W / 29.47611°N 95.63333°W |
Status | Operational |
Owner(s) | NRG Energy |
Thermal power station | |
Primary fuel | Coal |
Secondary fuel | Natural gas |
Cooling source | Smithers Lake |
Power generation | |
Nameplate capacity | 3,653 MW |
External links | |
Commons | Related media on Commons |
The W.A. Parish Generating Station is a 3.65-gigawatt (3,653 MW), dual-fired power plant located near Thompsons, Texas. The station occupies a 4,664-acre site near Smithers Lake southwest of Houston in Fort Bend County and consists of two four-unit plants; one natural gas and the other coal (2,697 MW). [1] With a total installed capacity of 3,653 MW, it is the second largest conventional power station in the US, and supplies about fifteen percent of the energy in the Houston area. [2] [3] NRG Energy owns and operates the plant. [1]
The Powder River Basin supplies three 115-car trainloads worth of low-sulfur coal to units 5-8 or 36,000 tons daily. [4] [5]
Completed in January 2017, the post-combustion [6] Petra Nova Carbon Capture Project became largest installed on an existing power plant in the world. [7] [8] The system pumped 1.6 million tons of filtered carbon dioxide (CO2) from unit 8 to the West Ranch Oil Field 82 miles away in Jackson County. [9] [10] Since the system is powered by natural gas, it was originally expected to have a net effect of not releasing 785,000 tons of carbon annually. [11] The system cost approximately $1 billion, [12] but was idled from May 2020 to September 2023 due to the low price of oil during the COVID-19 pandemic. [13] [14]
Adjacent to Parish Station is the natural gas Brazos Valley Power Plant owned by Calpine Energy which opened in 2003. [15]
During the 2021 Texas power crisis, Parish Station was reported to have experienced up to a 664 MW loss in generation capacity, including an 80 MW decrease in capacity early in the crisis that contributed to the need for rolling blackouts. [16]
The Unit 8 turbine, which has a generating capacity of 610 MW, caught fire the night of May 8, 2022. While there were no injuries reported during the fire, [17] a chemical exposure incident during the repairs briefly hospitalized six workers. [18] The turbine was heavily damaged and remained offline as of August 2023. [19] Unit 8 was originally expected to be repaired by May 7, 2023. [20]