Plant Scherer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Plant Scherer |
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| Country | United States |
| Location | Monroe County, near Juliette, Georgia |
| Coordinates | 33°03′47″N 83°48′14″W / 33.063°N 83.804°W |
| Commission date | Unit 1: 1982 Unit 2: 1984 Unit 3: 1987 Unit 4: 1989 |
| Decommission date | Unit 4: 2022 (planned) |
| Owner(s) | Oglethorpe Power (30%) Georgia Power (22.95%) FPL (19.1%) MEAG (15.1%) Gulf Power (6.25%) JEA (5.9%) City of Dalton (0.7%) |
| Operator(s) | Georgia Power |
The Robert W. Scherer Power Plant, often called Plant Scherer, is a huge power station in Juliette, Georgia, in the United States. It uses coal to create electricity. This plant is known for being one of the biggest coal-fired power plants in North America. It is named after Robert W. Scherer, a former leader of Georgia Power.
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How Plant Scherer Works
Plant Scherer has four large machines, called generating units. Each unit can produce 880 megawatts (MW) of electricity. To give you an idea, one megawatt can power about 400 to 900 homes!
The first unit started working in 1982. The other units were added in 1984, 1987, and 1989. This means the plant has been making electricity for many years.
Tall Chimneys and Big Power
The plant has two very tall chimney stacks. Each one is over 1,000 feet (about 305 meters) high! One was built in 1982, and the other in 1986. These chimneys help release gases from burning coal high into the air.
As of 2018, Plant Scherer was one of the largest power plants in the United States. It was the biggest one that uses only coal. However, burning coal also creates a lot of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide. Plant Scherer produces over 20 million tons of these gases each year.
You can often see Plant Scherer from airplanes flying to and from Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta. Its tall chimneys are a clear landmark.
In 2020, it was announced that one of the plant's units, Unit 4, is planned to shut down by 2022. This decision was made by Florida Power & Light and the Jacksonville Electric Authority.
Who Owns and Runs the Plant?
The power plant is operated by Georgia Power, which is part of a larger company called the Southern Company. But many different companies and groups actually own parts of Plant Scherer.
Here are some of the main owners:
- Oglethorpe Power Corporation
- Georgia Power
- NextEra Energy (through its companies Florida Power & Light and Gulf Power)
- JEA from Jacksonville, Florida
- The Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG)
- The city of Dalton, Georgia
Each of these owners has a share in the different generating units at the plant. For example, Oglethorpe Power owns a big part of Units 1 and 2, while Florida Power & Light owns most of Unit 4.
How Coal Reaches the Plant
The coal used at Plant Scherer comes from a place called the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. This coal travels a very long way by train.
Coal Train Delivery
Special trains, called unit trains, bring the coal to the plant. These trains can have up to 135 cars! They are operated by Norfolk Southern and BNSF.
When the trains arrive, they don't even stop to unload. They slowly move over a special track called an unloading trestle. The coal cars have bottoms that open up, and the coal drops out as the train moves. This whole process takes about 90 minutes. It's a very efficient way to deliver such a large amount of coal every day!
Looking at Emissions
When coal is burned to make electricity, it releases gases into the air. These are called emissions.
Environmental Concerns
As of 2006, Plant Scherer was the largest single source of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. In 2007, it was even ranked among the top 25 carbon dioxide producers in the world by the Center for Global Development. It was the only U.S. power plant on that list.
To help reduce these emissions, new rules and technologies have been put in place. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has created rules to control air pollution from power plants.
In 2011, a company called KBR was hired to install special equipment at Plant Scherer. This equipment helps clean the gases released from the chimneys. It includes systems like flue-gas desulfurization and selective catalytic reduction. These systems work to remove harmful substances from the gases before they go into the air.
