'Out of the coal business': Lansing BWL unveils second natural gas plant
LANSING — The Board of Water & Light hosted a grand opening ceremony Tuesday at Delta Energy Park, the site of a $500-million, natural gas-fired power plant that's been operating since March.
The plant will replace the coal-fired Erickson Power Station, which the municipal utility company plans to close at the end of 2022 after 49 years. Delta Energy Park generates 250 megawatts of electricity, while the Erickson facility produces 160 megawatts.
"(Erickson Power Station's) closure means we'll be out of the coal business," BWL General Manager Dick Peffley said.
The new plant is BWL's second natural gas-fired power facility, after the REO Town Cogeneration Plant that's been operating since 2013. The REO plant produces both electricity (100 megawatts) and steam (300,000 pounds per hour) for the city, replacing four coal-fired boilers used for steam production supplied to city and industrial customers previously from Moores Park.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, natural gas-fired plants significantly reduce the average rate of greenhouse gas emissions compared with coal-fired units. As of 2016, agency data showed that natural gas units emitted 898 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour while coal-based units produced 2,180 pounds at the same rate.
Carbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas emitted by human activities, according to the EPA, accounting for 79% of all U.S. emissions in 2020. Though some CO2 is naturally exchanged in nature, human emissions over the past 60 years have increased atmospheric CO2 levels at about 100 times natural increases, strongly contributing to global warming.
The ceremony — attended by BWL leadership, local elected officials and labor union officials — gave local dignitaries an opportunity to celebrate and look to the future. Multiple speakers said its construction was fundamental to the area securing manufacturing investments, such as a $2.5-billion battery cell manufacturing facility, a joint venture between General Motors Co. and LG Energy Solutions Michigan Inc., announced in January.
"This is going to be powering our community, it's going to be powering our region, and it's going to be powering 1,700 jobs, $(2.5)-billion of investment through the GM and Ultium battery plant," Lansing Mayor Andy Schor said.
Also in attendance were U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Lansing, and her November congressional challenger, Republican state Sen. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte.
The construction of the REO Town plant took three years and about 1,200 people working on the facility.
Six people died during the project's construction, one of whom was a welder who passed away from a "health issue" while working, said Stephen Serkaian, BWL's executive director of customer experience. In addition, five construction consultants died in a plane crash in October 2019 near Capital Region International Airport.
The construction of the plant is an important step in the company's path toward renewable energy, Delta Township Supervisor Ken Fletcher said.
"All you need to do is turn on the news and watch the weather and see what's happening with climate change. You have a 1,000-year rain that's happening down in Dallas that's flooding them. You're seeing all these other adverse weather effects going on across the country. You see the entire western half of the country is on fire every single summer, all as a result of climate change," Fletcher said. "The fact that the BWL is really being a leader, showing the way and really being a leader ... says a lot."
According to BWL's website, the company's renewable energy goals include providing 50% clean energy by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2040. The next step, Peffley said, is boosting the company's efforts in solar and wind energy.
"We own a lot of solar and wind right now ... we need to continue to expand upon them," he said. "We'd like to build some solar on this site. We're looking at doing that in the planning stages right now, because we have a lot of property here and it's cheaper to have the energy on site because you don't have to pay to transport it, so that would be better for our customers. But we are continuing to look on how to grow our renewable portfolio and then back it up with our gas plant."
According to its website, BWL obtains 87 megawatts of power from wind facilities and an additional 104 from solar. An additional 36 megawatts from solar is planned.
Through the Michigan Public Power Agency, the BWL receives up to 165 megawatts of electricity from the Belle River Plant, a coal-fired generator located near St. Clair built and operated by DTE. DTE has announced plans to close the plant by 2030.
Contact reporter Jared Weber at 517-582-3937 or jtweber@lsj.com.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing BWL unveils natural gas-fired powerplant, goes coal-free
