Decision to Retire Two Small Coal Units Consistent with Minnesota Power's EnergyForward Plan
October 19 2016 - 11:50AM
Business Wire
Minnesota Power today announced it will retire two small
coal-fired generators at its Boswell Energy Center in Cohasset,
Minn., by the end of 2018. It is the latest step in the company’s
EnergyForward plan to meet customer electric-service needs
in a balanced, reliable and cost-effective way.
Boswell Energy Center is Minnesota Power’s largest thermal
generating facility and consists of four generating units. The
company will retire Boswell Units 1 and 2, but continue to operate
units 3 and 4, its largest generators. Together, units 3 and 4 are
capable of generating nearly 1,000 megawatts and provide the
reliable power that customers, including large industrial users
like mines and paper mills, need 24/7. Units 1 and 2 are each
capable of producing 65 megawatts.
Company officials were at Boswell this morning to make the
announcement to employees.
“The decision to retire units 1 and 2 at Boswell, though
difficult for our employees and host communities, is consistent
with Minnesota Power’s EnergyForward strategy of
diversifying its energy mix, reducing its carbon footprint and
evolving away from smaller, older coal generators,” said ALLETE
Chairman, President and CEO Alan R. Hodnik. Minnesota Power is an
operating division of ALLETE Inc. (NYSE: ALE). “Multimillion dollar
investments in emissions reductions and new turbine rotors at
Boswell Units 3 and 4 in recent years have made them among the
cleanest-operating, most highly efficient electric generators in
the nation. These large, state-of-the-art units, along with the
company’s investments in renewable energy and access to low cost
power markets, will ensure the continued availability of reliable
and affordable electricity to meet the needs of all our customers,
including those who compete in global markets.”
Josh Skelton, vice president-Minnesota Power generation
operations, said the decision to retire units 1 and 2 directly
affects 30 employees and the company is working to avoid layoffs
through attrition and retirements.
“We recognize this news comes during a difficult time for the
West Range which has experienced job losses, delays and closures
related to our natural resource based industry in recent weeks,”
Skelton said. “Our employees have done an excellent job of
maintaining and operating Boswell Units 1 and 2 and we thank them
for their many years of dedicated service,” Skelton said. “We will
assist them, as well as the Cohasset community, to help mitigate
impacts during this transition.”
In its 2015 Integrated Resource Plan submitted to the Minnesota
Public Utilities Commission, Minnesota Power had proposed making
improvements to units 1 and 2 and keeping them operational through
2024. But following months of analysis of projected customer needs
and industry trends, company officials determined that retiring the
two small coal units in 2018 was in the economic best interest of
its customers. Minnesota Power will be evaluating the need for
replacement power as part of its ongoing system planning
activities.
Boswell Units 1 and 2 are the last of Minnesota Power’s small
coal-fired units to be retired, idled or converted to
cleaner-burning natural gas. The company’s systematic fleet
transition of small older coal facilities already has resulted in
the removal of 335 megawatts of coal-fired capacity from its
generation system. At Taconite Harbor Energy Center in Schroeder,
Minn., one 75MW unit was retired in 2015 and the remaining two 75MW
units were economically idled in September, leaving them available
to be called back into service if needed to maintain power grid
reliability until coal operations cease there in 2020. The 110MW
Laskin Energy Center in Hoyt Lakes, Minn., was converted to natural
gas from coal in 2015.
Boswell Unit 3, at 355 megawatts, and Unit 4, at 585 megawatts,
are the backbone of Minnesota Power’s system. Investments in
state-of-the-art technology have improved efficiencies and reduced
emissions of mercury by 90 percent, and sulfur dioxide and nitrogen
oxides by 80 percent at the two units while helping to preserve
reliable and affordable power for customers.
“Through EnergyForward, Minnesota Power is responsibly
answering the nation’s call to transform its energy landscape,”
Hodnik said. “We’re serving customers with a more balanced set of
power sources, including more wind and solar while retaining
critical baseload power, and doing so in a way that protects
customers, the communities we serve and the quality of life in our
region.”
Minnesota Power already is meeting or exceeding state standards
for renewable power, energy conservation and carbon emission
reduction. The company has achieved a 25 percent renewable energy
mix, well ahead of Minnesota’s renewable energy goal of 25 percent
by 2025. Minnesota Power expects to reduce carbon emissions on its
system by about 20 percent by 2020 and 30 percent by 2025 compared
with 2005 levels.
Originally conceived as one 65-megawatt generator in 1956, plans
for Boswell quickly turned into two 65-megawatt units as the demand
for electricity by natural resource based companies in Minnesota
Power’s service territory increased. Boswell 1 and 2 were dedicated
in 1960. Plans to further expand the facility to meet the needs of
a booming mining industry were announced in 1968 and Unit 3 was
dedicated in 1973. The last and largest generator at Boswell, Unit
4, was dedicated in 1980.
Minnesota Power provides electric service within a
26,000-square-mile area in northeastern Minnesota, supporting
comfort, security and quality of life for 145,000 customers, 16
municipalities and some of the largest industrial customers in the
United States. More information can be found at www.mnpower.com.
ALE-ENRG
The statements contained in this release and statements that
ALLETE may make orally in connection with this release that are not
historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Actual results
may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties and investors are directed to the risks discussed in
documents filed by ALLETE with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161019005219/en/
Minnesota Power/ALLETEAmy Rutledge, 218-723-7400Manager -
Corporate Communicationsarutledge@mnpower.com
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