COPE — Orangeburg County economic development, political and governmental officials donned the hard hats and safety goggles this past week for a tour of the South Carolina Electric & Gas Cope Generating Station’s newly installed emission-reduction equipment at the coal-fired unit.

The tour highlighted the plant’s $69 million selective catalytic reduction equipment technology.

Site preparation and construction for the emissions addition began during summer 2008, and tie-in of the unit occurred in the fall of 2008.

The equipment officially went online Jan. 1.

The new equipment will rude nitrous oxide gases (NOx) by more than 70 percent.

“We try to be a good neighbor,” SCE&G vice president of fossil and hydro operations Jim Landreth told those gathered during a brief presentation before a tour of the plant. “What do neighbors do? They take care of each other. If you are doing that, you profit together and solve problems together.”

Landreth praised community support of the plant’s operations.

Those in attendance included Orangeburg County Councilman Willie B. Owens, officials from the Orangeburg County Development Commission, the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce and Orangeburg County governmental offices.

To preserve the surrounding environs, SCE&G initially spent $80 million on emission- and pollution-control equipment.

The equipment included baghouses that filter 99 percent of the fly ash, dry scrubbers that remove 95 percent of the sulfur dioxide and low-nitrous-oxide burners. The scrubbers also eliminate approximately 60 to 90 percent of mercury emissions.

The boiler also has low-NOx burners installed in the late 1990s. They increase the amount of NOx even further.

The plant’s closed-cycle cooling system, in which condenser water is recycled, allows for minimal water withdrawal from the four wells located on site.

The Cope station burns about 160 tons of coal per hour when operating at full load and generates 425 megawatts of electricity.

The investment was the latest for a plant that began operations 13 years ago.

The upgrades have caught the attention of electricity companies nationally.

In December 2008, the Cope plant was ranked fourth in efficiency -- every ton of coal put in vs. kilowatt of electricity -- by Electric Light & Power magazine.

Landreth said the plant consistently ranks high in efficiency compared to national standards.

“We have just spent nearly $70 million ... here at the Cope Station that will remove almost $6 million pounds of nitrogen,” he said. “That is the equivalent of 6 million 1-pound boxes of confectioner sugar. That is on top of the over 44 million pounds a year of sulfur that we are already keeping out of the air. We are celebrating that by being a neighbor and cleaning up the air. We want to make sure we are enhancing our community.”

SCE&G has spent more than $315 million on all its coal-fired plants to reduce emissions. By 2010, SCE&G plans to spend an additional $450 million in emission reductions.

“We are fortunate in Orangeburg County to have a Scana facility producing clean, safe and reliable power for our citizens,” Orangeburg County Development Commission Executive Director Gregg Robinson said. “They are a key component in our ability to attract new industries to our area. The fact that they are able to do all of this and further protect the environment with this new equipment says a great deal about Scana, their leadership and their commitment as stewards of the environment.”

The plant, which sits on a 3,200-acre tract, was designed so that only half an acre of the 1,700 acres of wetlands would be disturbed. Nearly 400 acres of wetlands along the South Fork Edisto River were included in a conservation easement to the Congaree Land Trust as a hardwood and cypress preserve.

The $411 million plant employs about 75. At full power, the plant can generate power for an average of 385,000 homes. In addition to coal, the plant also burns natural gas. The Cope plant is the county’s largest taxpayer at $7.2 million annually.

SCE&G is a subsidiary of Scana Corp.

n T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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