William H. Zimmer Power Station

The William H. Zimmer Power Station, located near Moscow, Ohio, is a 1.35-gigawatt (1,351 MW) coal power plant. Planned by Cincinnati Gas and Electric (CG&E) (a forerunner of Duke Energy), with Columbus & Southern Ohio Electric (a forerunner of American Electric Power (AEP)) and Dayton Power & Light (DP&L) as its partners; it was originally intended to be a nuclear power plant.[1] Although once estimated to be 97% complete, poor construction and quality assurance (QA) led to the plant being converted to coal-fired generation.[2] The plant began operations in 1991.[3] Today, the plant is owned and operated by Vistra Energy.

William H. Zimmer Power Station
William H. Zimmer Power Station in 2017
CountryUnited States
LocationWashington Township, Clermont County, near Moscow, Ohio
Coordinates38°51′59″N 84°13′41″W
StatusOperational
Commission date1991
Owner(s)Vistra Energy
Thermal power station
Primary fuelCoal
Cooling sourceOhio River
Power generation
Units cancelled1 × 840 MW BWR
1 × 1,170 MW BWR
Nameplate capacity1,351 MW
External links
CommonsRelated media on Commons

History

Construction
The mothballed containment building (right) that was supposed to house an active nuclear reactor.

The construction of Zimmer was a consortium of CG&E, Columbus & Southern Ohio Electric, and DP&L. The project was announced in 1969 with a cost of $420 million to construct two 840 MW nuclear power units with completion dates set for 1975 and 1976.[1] The plant is named after William H. Zimmer, who was chairman and president of CG&E from 1962 to 1975.[1][4] Construction of the plant did not start until 1972 because the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) demanded stricter standards to approve of nuclear plants.[5] The second proposed unit was upgraded from 840 MW to 1,170 MW in 1974. General Electric's BWRs were chosen for the plant's nuclear reactors.[6] Ultimately, the second unit was never constructed due to regulatory issues and costs.[7]

An investigation into the construction of Zimmer began in 1978. A worker charged that a welding contractor did defective work below nuclear safety standards.[7] CG&E's lawyers placed blame on the contractor for not picking up on the defective work.[8] The Chicago Sun-Times reported in 1980 that not only time cards were being falsified and defective piping was installed in a plant's safety system, but CG&E was accused of covering it up.[9] As a result, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) fined CG&E $200,000 for a faulty quality assurance program in 1981.[10][11] The constructor was Kaiser Engineering whereas the primary owner, CG&E, did its own procurement, awarding contracts for equipment, and quality assurance requirements.[11] The NRC, under pressure from the Government Accountability Project (GAP) to reopen the investigation, eventually ordered work on the nuclear reactor to halt in 1982.[10][12] The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) launched an investigation into the plant's safety records and harassment of inspectors.[12]

CG&E, with two other electric utilities (AEP and DP&L), announced the cancellation of the Zimmer Nuclear Power Plant in 1983. Zimmer's total sunk costs equaled some $1.6 billion; CG&E's share amounted to $716 million, which was almost 90% of the utility's 1982 net worth.[13][14] Retired Navy Admiral, Joe Williams Jr. was hired to bring the plant on-line,[15] and Bechtel was retained to nuclear-qualify the plant. Bechtel came in with an estimate of more than $1.5 billion—beyond the $1.6 billion already spent—to adequately complete the plant.[13]

Conversion to Coal

Originally expected to cost $240 million for one unit, when the cost estimate soared to at least $3.1 billion, the decision was made in January 1984 to convert the mothballed plant into a coal-fired generated plant.[1][13] Sargent & Lundy, who was the architect/engineering firm, and General Electric were sued by the three utilities in July 1984. The utilities sought $400 million in damages asserting the defective equipment caused extra costs for the construction of Zimmer.[16] The lawsuit was settled in November 1987 with Sargent & Lundy agreeing to pay $27.4 million to the utilities. The utilities agreed to pay $12.7 million to Sargent & Lundy.[17]

Converting Zimmer into a coal power plant began in March 1987.[18] During the conversion of the plant from nuclear to coal, the Little Indian Creek was routed through the plant to protect fish populations.[19] The plant now has several unique environmental protection features to keep the creek at its natural state. In addition, mussels along the riverbed at Zimmer were relocated upstream.[19][20] After $3.3 billion in expenditures, the world's first nuclear-to-coal power plant was completed in 1991.[3]

A tornado struck Zimmer on March 2, 2012 causing damages to surrounding buildings at the plant and electrical towers, fortunately no one at the plant was injured. The power plant continued generating electricity as repairs were made.[21][22]

Duke Energy sold its stake in Zimmer to Dynegy in 2014.[23] AEP sold its 25% stake in Zimmer to Dynegy for a swap of Dynegy's stake in Conesville Power Plant in February 2017.[24] In April 2017, Dynegy was given sole ownership of Zimmer when DP&L announced it would sell its 28% stake to Dynegy.[25] Zimmer would become owned by Vistra Energy after Vistra's merger with Dynegy in 2018.[26]

In March 2020, Vistra Energy would settle with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over a period of two decades of exceeding its emission operating limits. Vistra would pay a $600,000 fine to the Department of Justice (DOJ), retrofit $45,000 in energy efficient lighting at a nearby school, and replace three school buses that are cleaner-burning.[27]

Retirement

In September 2020, Vistra announced it would be retiring the Zimmer plant by year-end 2027.[28]

Equipment
The plant's generator and turbine in 1993.

Zimmer utilizes equipment from the old nuclear plant in conjunction with the coal conversion equipment.[29] The original Westinghouse high-pressure/low-pressure turbine was modified and the high-pressure section was removed. The General Electric reactor was to generate 840 MW per the original nuclear design.[6] ASEA Brown Boveri (ABB) was contracted to design the high-pressure turbine, intermediate-pressure/reheat turbine and generator.[30] The HP/IP generator produces 900 MW and the Westinghouse LP generator produces 497 MW. The plant's feedwater pump is powered by a turbine, rather than electrical pumps like in many other plants. The feedwater turbine was designed by ABB and generates 50,000 kW (67,000 hp).

The boiler, designed by Babcock & Wilcox, is a supercritical steam generator with a maximum pressure of about 3,845 psi (26,510 kPa) and temperature of about 1,010 °F (543 °C).[31][32] The reheat section of the boiler operates at about 1,000 °F (538 °C).[31]

The plant also uses several environmental controls such as selective catalytic reduction (SCRs) to reduce nitrogen oxide (NO
x ) emissions, electrostatic precipitators to remove fly ash, and a flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) system which removes up to 98% of the sulfur dioxide (SO
2) emissions.[29][33] The gypsum byproduct of the FGD system is sold to make drywall.[34]

The plant's cooling tower was designed to handle the cooling for the original nuclear plant. This creates generating efficiency issues during very hot summer days, as the cooling tower must cool much more equipment than it was originally designed for. A 573 ft (175 m) smokestack was constructed to complement the cooling tower.[35]

See also

References
  1. "3 Firms Plan Nuclear Power Plant Along Ohio River". The Portsmouth Times. September 13, 1969. p. 1. Retrieved April 15, 2018 – via https://newspaperarchive.com/.
  2. Kaufman, Ben L. (March 2, 1991). "Overruns, protests plagued Zimmer". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. C-6. Retrieved April 21, 2018 – via https://www.newspapers.com/.
  3. Lafferty, Michael B. (March 31, 1991). "Zimmer Plant Ready to Roll, But is it Needed? - And How Much Should Customers Pay?". The Columbus Dispatch. p. 1A. Retrieved April 15, 2018 – via https://www.newsbank.com/.
  4. "Great Living Cincinnatians: William H. Zimmer". Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber. November 18, 2008. Archived from the original on November 18, 2008. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  5. Thomas, Rick (November 1, 1972). "Nuclear plant okayed, Hamilton area benefits". The Journal News. p. 15. Retrieved April 15, 2018 – via https://newspaperarchive.com/.
  6. "Water nuclear units slated for Moscow". The Journal News. January 24, 1974. p. 32. Retrieved April 20, 2018 – via https://newspaperarchive.com/.
  7. Babcock, Jim (September 22, 1978). "Nuclear's plant welding probed". The Journal Herald. p. 27. Retrieved April 21, 2018 – via https://www.newspapers.com/.
  8. Greenfield, Jim (June 29, 1979). "Memos Stir Questions About Welding Quality At Hearing On Zimmer". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. B-1. Retrieved April 21, 2018 – via https://www.newspapers.com/.
  9. "Zimmer safety problem claimed". The Crescent-News. UPI. April 21, 1980. p. 3. Retrieved April 20, 2018 – via https://newspaperarchive.com/.
  10. Cooke, Stephanie (2009). In Mortal Hands: A Cautionary History of the Nuclear Age. Black Inc. pp. 279–281. ISBN 978-1-59691-617-3.
  11. Kaufman, Ben L. (November 26, 1981). "Zimmer Incurs $200,000 Fine Over Foul-Ups". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. A-1. Retrieved April 21, 2018 – via https://www.newspapers.com/.
  12. Burnham, David (November 13, 1982). "U.S. Orders Construction Halt on Ohio Atom Plant". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  13. "Nearly Completed Nuclear Plant Will be Converted to Burn Coal". The New York Times. January 22, 1984. p. 1. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  14. Gurley, Darryl E.J. (January 1, 1990). "Nuclear power plant cancellations: sunk costs and utility stock returns". Quarterly Journal of Business and Economics. Archived from the original on January 12, 2008. Retrieved June 7, 2009.
  15. "Zimmer official quits as nuke options nixed". The Daily Gazette. The Associated Press. January 28, 1984. p. 1. Retrieved April 15, 2018 – via https://newspaperarchive.com/.
  16. "Utilities in Zimmer Suit". The New York Times. July 11, 1984. p. D16. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  17. Kaufman, Ben L. (November 14, 1987). "Zimmer owners, firm settle plant dispute". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. C-1. Retrieved April 21, 2018 – via https://www.newspapers.com/.
  18. Babcock, Jim (March 18, 1987). "Construction begins at Zimmer". Dayton Daily News. p. 21. Retrieved April 21, 2018 – via https://www.newspapers.com/.
  19. Zimmer Conversion Project, Clermont County: Environmental Impact Statement. United States Army Corps of Engineers. 1987. pp. 94–95. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  20. Lafferty, Michael B.; Lietzke, Ron (March 31, 1991). "Efficient, Clean Plant Arose From Troubled Past". The Columbus Dispatch. p. 4B. Retrieved April 15, 2018 – via https://www.newsbank.com/.
  21. McKee, Tom (May 18, 2012). "Tornado-damaged electric lines restrung at Zimmer Power Plant". WCPO-TV. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  22. "Damage At Power Plant 'Like We Were Attacked'". WLWT-TV. March 28, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  23. "Dynegy to Acquire Assets from Duke Energy and Energy Capital Partners – Transforming Power Generation Fleet; Provides 2015 Pro Forma Guidance". BusinessWire. August 22, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  24. Knox, Tom (February 24, 2017). "AEP, Dynegy swap Ohio power plant ownership". Columbus Business First. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  25. "Dynegy to Become Sole Owner of Two Ohio Coal Plants". Power Engineering. April 27, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  26. "Vistra Energy Completes Merger with Dynegy". Business Wire. April 9, 2018. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  27. Monk, Dan (March 2, 2020). "EPA settles more than a decade of pollution claims against Zimmer power plant for $600K". WCPO-TV. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  28. "VISTRA ACCELERATES PIVOT TO INVEST IN CLEAN ENERGY AND COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE". September 29, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  29. Elkins, Robert M. (August 2, 1984). "Reaction Favorable To Zimmer Conversion Plan". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. B-1. Retrieved April 21, 2018 – via https://www.newspapers.com/.
  30. "Steam turbines: how big can they get?". Modern Power Systems. August 1, 2007. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  31. Zimmer Conversion Project, Clermont County: Environmental Impact Statement. United States Army Corps of Engineers. 1987. p. 20. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  32. "Looking Back & Forging Ahead". Babcock & Wilcox. 2017. p. 19. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  33. Boyer, Mike (December 23, 2001). "Project to cut plant emissions". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. D-1. Retrieved April 21, 2018 – via https://www.newspapers.com/.
  34. "Zimmer Will Sell Synthetic Gypsum". 103 (5). Power Engineering. May 1, 1999. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  35. Neitman, Dean (March 4, 1991). "Zimmer conversion project". Dayton Daily News. p. 1. Retrieved May 3, 2018 – via https://www.newspapers.com/.
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