The Fayette Power Project (FPP) near La Grange has completed the addition of flue-gas desulfurization equipment known as scrubbers that will significantly reduce emissions from FPP.
LCRA and Austin Energy, co-owners of FPP units 1 and 2, in March 2011 celebrated the completion of a five-year construction project to install scrubbers on each unit. The $400 million project is removing more than 95 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions from the two units.
“Completion of the new scrubbers fulfills a commitment we made to our neighbors and communities when we began this project several years ago,” said Tom Mason, LCRA General Manager. “FPP has a long history of helping LCRA’s electric customers provide affordable, reliable and environmentally responsible power to more than 1 million Central Texans. This milestone will help LCRA continue that tradition.”
The emission-reduction equipment targets emissions of sulfur-dioxide. The new scrubbers also provide the added benefit of removing about 20 percent of mercury emissions from the two units, and will lead to significant reductions in particulate matter emissions from units 1 and 2. In addition, LCRA is in the process of upgrading the scrubber on Unit 3, which was included when the unit was built in 1988. LCRA expects to complete the upgrade in spring 2012.
Residents and passers-by will see plumes of water vapor from the scrubber chimney for units 1 and 2 and the chimney for Unit 3. That means the scrubbers are doing their job of removing almost all of the sulfur dioxide emissions from the plant.
For more information about the scrubbers, read the news release.
Learn more about the Fayette Power Project.
