Morgantown Generating Station facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Morgantown Generating Station |
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| Country | United States |
| Location | Newburg, Maryland |
| Coordinates | 38°21′33″N 76°58′36″W / 38.35917°N 76.97667°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Commission date | 1970 |
| Owner(s) | NRG Energy |
The Morgantown Generating Station is a large power plant that makes electricity. It is located in Newburg, Maryland, near the Potomac River. This plant started making power in 1970. It is owned by GenOn Holdings LLC., which is part of NRG Energy. The plant can produce 1,477 megawatts of electricity.
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How the Power Plant Works
The Morgantown Generating Station uses different ways to make electricity. It has several types of power-making units.
Main Power Units
The plant has two main units that use coal to create steam. This steam then spins turbines to make electricity. These units are called "base-loaded" because they run almost all the time. They each produce 624 megawatts of power. These big units started working in 1970 and 1971.
Backup Power Units
The station also has smaller units that use fuel oil. These are called "peaking units." They are used when a lot more electricity is needed, like on very hot or very cold days. There are four of these units, each making 65 megawatts. They started in 1973.
There are also two even smaller units. These are called "black start" units. They can help start the whole power plant if there is a big power outage. Each of these makes 18 megawatts. They began operating in 1970 and 1971. All these units were made by General Electric.
How Fuel Arrives
For a long time, coal was brought to the Morgantown plant by special trains. These trains used the Pope's Creek Subdivision rail line. In 2007, work began on a pier to unload coal from barges on the Potomac River.
Plant History
The Morgantown Generating Station was first built by a company called the Potomac Electric Power Company. In 2000, they sold the plant to the Southern Company. This happened because of new rules about how electricity was made and sold in Maryland.
Later, in 2001, the plant became part of a new company called Mirant. Then, Mirant joined with GenOn Energy in 2010. Finally, GenOn merged with NRG in 2012. So, the plant has had a few different owners over the years.
Managing Power Output
The Morgantown Generating Station is part of a big system called PJM Interconnection. This system helps manage the flow of electricity across many states. It decides when and how much power plants like Morgantown should produce. This makes sure there's always enough electricity for everyone.
Protecting the Environment
Power plants can sometimes release things into the air or water. In 2018, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) asked the Morgantown plant to improve its water cleaning systems. This was to meet newer environmental rules.
The goal was to greatly reduce certain metals, like arsenic and mercury, that were being released into the water. By upgrading their systems, the plant could reduce these releases by a lot, making the water cleaner.
Moving Away from Coal
For many years, the Morgantown plant used coal as its main fuel. However, there have been plans to stop burning coal.
In December 2020, the company that owns the plant announced that the coal-fired units would stop working in 2027. The plant would then continue to make electricity using natural gas and oil instead.
Later, in June 2021, the company changed this date. They announced that the coal-burning units at Morgantown would actually stop operating much sooner, by June 1, 2022. This means the plant has largely moved away from using coal.
