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Big Bend Power Station

Big Bend Power StationLocation

Situated on Tampa Bay, Big Bend Power Station is located on Big Bend Road on nearly 1,500 acres in southeastern Hillsborough County, close to Apollo Beach.

Description

Big Bend Power Station has four coal-fired units with a combined output of more than 1,800 megawatts. Big Bend Power Station expanded to meet the demands of rapid growth during the 1970s and 1980s. The first unit began service in 1970; the second and third generating units were added in 1973 and 1976; and Unit Four was added in 1985. With the capacity provided by three combustion turbines that serve as peaking units, combined output from Big Bend Power Station is 2,000 megawatts.

Environment

Big Bend Power Station meets strict environmental regulations through the use of a flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system or scrubber, which removes sulfur dioxide produced when coal is burned.

The scrubber for Big Bend Units One and Two began operation at the end of 1999. The scrubber for Big Bend Unit Four began operation in 1984, and since 1995, has simultaneously scrubbed Unit Three as well. The FGD system complies with standards set by the U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, and removes 95 percent of sulfur dioxide from all four units.

By using a variety of proven technologies, Tampa Electric expects to significantly reduce oxides of nitrogen (NOx), particulate matter, sulfur dioxide emissions from Big Bend Power Station. Planned actions include:

  • Tampa Electric is installing Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from the plant. This project will cost approximately $300 million and will reduce nitrogen oxide emissions at Big Bend Power Station by roughly 85 percent from 1998 levels by 2012.
  • Optimizing the electrostatic precipitators to minimize emissions of particulate matter from the stacks. By 2004, all improvements will be implemented, resulting in a reduction of approximately 59 percent when compared to 1998 levels.
  • Further reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions by investing more than $23 million in scrubber upgrades, resulting in a reduction of over 80 percent from 1998 levels.

During the scrubbing process, coal combustion gases are sprayed with a mixture of water and limestone. Sulfur oxides react with the spray to form gypsum.

Recycling

Tampa Electric recycles virtually all of its gypsum. The byproduct is used locally:

  • In wallboard (drywall) for construction;
  • In cement and concrete for construction;
  • And in agriculture as a soil nutrient, fertilizer or “sweetener.”

Fly ash, a fine particulate material that results from the combustion of coal in all four Big Bend Units, is used in the cement and concrete industries.

Slag, a solid byproduct, is a hard glassy material with many reuses, including cement. Its hard quality makes it valuable to use as a blasting material to clean ships and other large surfaces.