HOUSTON and PITTSBURGH, July 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Reliant Energy
announced plans today to install a state-of-the-art flue gas
desulfurization system, or scrubber, at its 580-megawatt, Cheswick
Generating Station in Springdale, Pa., about 18 miles northeast of
Pittsburgh.
Construction of the $250 million project is scheduled to begin in the
first quarter of 2007, creating approximately 400 construction jobs and 20
permanent jobs at the plant. Capital expenditures for the project are in
line with the company's previously disclosed capital budget and will be
incurred from 2007 through 2009. The scrubber is scheduled to begin
operation in the fourth quarter 2009.
"This investment demonstrates our commitment to both the environment as
well as the local community," said Joel Staff, chairman and chief executive
officer, Reliant Energy. "Installation of a scrubber at Cheswick will
create construction jobs and improve the long-term economic viability of
the plant, while contributing to cleaner air in the state."
The scrubber will remove approximately 98 percent of sulfur dioxide
(SO2) from the plant's flue gas, lowering historical SO2 emissions from
Cheswick by approximately 40,000 tons per year.
Another important benefit of the scrubber is mercury removal. Operating
in conjunction with the plant's existing nitrogen oxide (NOx) controls, the
system will remove between 80 percent and 90 percent of the mercury in
bituminous coal. In addition, the scrubber will reduce current particulate
emissions by an additional 62 percent.
In simple terms, a scrubber works by spraying a mixture of limestone
and water into hot flue gases. When the sulfur dioxide comes into contact
with the mixture, it is converted to calcium sulfate, which is then
collected and dried, producing commercial grade gypsum, the primary
component of wallboard. Plans call for gypsum from the Cheswick plant to be
sold to wallboard manufacturers, turning a waste stream into a usable
resource.
"Installation of the scrubber will provide both environmental and
economic benefits," said Dave Freysinger, senior vice president, generation
operations, Reliant Energy. "In addition to emissions reductions and
creation of jobs, the scrubber will allow the flexibility to source coal
from local coal markets."
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. For more information, visit
http://www.reliant.com/corporate .
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are statements that
contain projections, estimates and assumptions about our revenues, income,
earnings and other financial items, our plans and objectives for the
future, future economic performance, or other projections or estimates
about our assumptions relating to these types of statements. These
statements usually relate to future events and anticipated revenues,
earnings, business strategies, competitive position or other aspects of our
operations or operating results. In many cases you can identify
forward-looking statements by terminology such as "anticipate," "estimate,"
"believe," "continue," "could," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential,"
"predict," "should," "will," "expect," "objective," "projection,"
"forecast," "goal," "guidance," "outlook", "effort", "target" and other
similar words. However, the absence of these words does not mean that the
statements are not forward-looking. We have based our forward- looking
statements on management's beliefs and assumptions based on information
available to management at the time the statements are made. Actual results
may differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking
statements as a result of many factors or events, including legislative and
regulatory developments, the outcome of pending lawsuits, governmental
proceedings and investigations, the effects of competition, financial
market conditions, access to capital, the timing and extent of changes in
commodity prices and interest rates, weather conditions, changes in our
business plan and other factors we discuss in our other filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including "Risk Factors" discussed in
our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Item 1A. Each forward-looking
statement speaks only as of the date of the particular statement, and we
undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
SOURCE Reliant Energy, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.reliant.com/corporate
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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