Additional Improvements, New Technology for Monitoring to Further Lower
Emissions
PITTSBURGH, June 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Reliant Energy announced
today that it has completed installation and placed in service the final
module of upgrades to the flue gas desulfurization system (scrubber) at its
Elrama Power Plant.
The plant, located in Elizabeth, Pa., about 25 miles southwest of
Pittsburgh, is a 465 megawatt, coal-fired generating plant. Units 1, 2 and
3 were commissioned in the early 1950s, while Unit 4 began commercial
operation in 1960. The scrubber at Elrama, one of the first in the United
States, was installed in the mid-1970s and removes more than 80 percent of
the sulfur dioxide produced during the combustion process.
The $10 million scrubber upgrades have further reduced SO2 emissions
from Elrama by over 30 percent and are expected to reduce particulate
matter emissions, and therefore "opacity," which refers to the darkness of
the smoke emitted from the plant. With completion of the scrubber upgrades,
the company is now focused on optimizing operation of the scrubber and on
continued reductions in opacity.
"We are committed to continuing to reduce emissions at Elrama through
our Opacity Reduction Project, which entails installation of additional
instrumentation, combustion improvements, air flow improvements, and
improvements to the existing emission control equipment," said Benjamin
Ethridge, general manager, Elrama Power Plant. "We are confident that when
this work is complete, we will see significant improvements in opacity at
Elrama."
Later this year, Reliant also will place into service innovative
emission monitoring technology that will provide better data on particulate
matter emissions. This improved emissions data will allow the company to
more quickly adjust plant operations to avoid excess opacity than the
current instrumentation and observations allow.
Reliant Energy, Inc. (NYSE: RRI), based in Houston, Texas, provides
electricity and energy services to retail and wholesale customers in the
United States. In Texas, the company provides service to approximately 1.9
million retail electricity customers, including residential, small business
and commercial, industrial, governmental and institutional customers.
Reliant also serves commercial, industrial, governmental and institutional
customers in the PJM (Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland) market. The
company is one of the largest independent power producers in the nation
with approximately 16,000 megawatts of power generation capacity across the
United States. These strategically located generating assets utilize
natural gas, fuel oil and coal.
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
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the effects of competition, financial market conditions, access to capital,
the timing and extent of changes in commodity prices and interest rates,
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Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange
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SOURCE Reliant Energy, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.reliant.com
CONTACT:
media, Pat Hammond, +1-713-497-7723, or
investors, Dennis Barber, +1-713-497-3042, both of Reliant
Energy, Inc.
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