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Nitrogen oxides, commonly referred to as NOx, are produced in fossil plants during the coal combustion process. It is a precursor to the creation of ozone, which contributes to the formation of smog in the atmosphere.
SCE&G has invested millions of dollars over the years to reduce NOx emissions. All of our coal plants were equipped with low-NOx burners in the late 1990s at a cost of more than $29 million. More recently, state-of-the-art selective catalytic reduction (SCR) equipment was installed on our two largest coal plants, the Wateree Station and the Williams Station, to the tune of $138 million. These initiatives, plus several others, have led to a 70 percent reduction in NOx emissions system-wide.
Our Urquhart Station converted two of its units from coal fuel to clean-burning natural gas in 2003. The cost of this project was more than $240 million, and substantially reduced NOx emissions.
Future plans call for the installation of SCR equipment on our Cope Station in 2008 at a price of $69 million.
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