View source for Hal B. Wansley Power Plant

{{Short description|Power station in Georgia, United States}}
{{Infobox power station
| name = Hal B. Wansley Power Plant
| image_caption = Hal B. Wansley Power Plant
| image_size = 
| image_alt = A large power plant complex with smokestacks and cooling towers.
| location_map_caption = 
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| country = United States
| location = Heard County, Georgia
| coordinates = {{coord|33|24|48|N|85|01|57|W|type:landmark_region:US-GA|display=inline,title}}
| status = Operational (Units 1 & 2 retired)
| construction_began = 
| commissioned = 1976 (Units 1 & 2), 2002 (Units 6 & 7), 2003 (Unit 8), 2004 (Unit 9)
| decommissioned = 2022 (Units 1 & 2)
| cost = 
| owner = Southern Company, Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, Dalton Utilities
| operator = Georgia Power Company (coal units), Southern Power (gas units), Oglethorpe Power Corporation (Unit 8), Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (Unit 9)
| employees = 
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| th_fuel_primary = Coal, Natural Gas, Oil
| th_fuel_secondary = 
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| ps_header = Thermal
| ps_site_area = 
| ps_site_elevation = 
| ps_chimneys = 
| ps_cooling_towers = Yes
| ps_cooling_source = Service water pond (Chattahoochee River tributary)
| ps_feed-in_tariff = 
| ps_revenue = 
| ps_combined_cycle = Yes (Gas Units)
| ps_cogeneration = 
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| ps_thermal_capacity = 
| ps_label1 = Units 1 & 2 Capacity (retired)
| ps_data1 = 1904 MW (952 MW each)
| ps_label2 = Units 6 & 7 Capacity
| ps_data2 = 826.8 MW (combined)
| ps_label3 = Unit 8 Capacity
| ps_data3 = 549.7 MW
| ps_label4 = Unit 9 Capacity
| ps_data4 = 568 MW
| ps_label5 = Total Capacity (excluding retired units)
| ps_data5 = 1944.5 MW
| ps_iwpp = 
| ps_iwpp_technology = 
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| ps_iwpp_water_tariff = 
| ps_units_operational =  Units 5A, 6, 7, 8, 9
| ps_units_manu_model = 
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| ps_units_cancelled = 
| ps_units_uc = 
| ps_units_decommissioned = 1 & 2
| ps_electrical_capacity = 
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}}
'''Hal B. Wansley Power Plant''' is a [[power station]] located in northeastern [[Heard County, Georgia|Heard County]], between [[Franklin, Georgia|Franklin]] and [[Carrollton, Georgia|Carrollton]], in the state of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[United States]]. Its various units, powered by coal, oil, and natural gas,<ref name=GPC>{{cite web
 |title       = Plant Wansley brochure
 |publisher   = [[Georgia Power Company]]
 |year        = 2003
 |url         = http://www.georgiapower.com/about/pdf/Plant%20Wansley%20brochure.pdf
 |doi         = 
 |access-date  = 2008-08-07
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20101007110903/http://georgiapower.com/about/pdf/Plant%20Wansley%20brochure.pdf
 |archive-date = 2010-10-07
 }}</ref> are operated by [[Southern Company]], [[Georgia Power Company]], [[Oglethorpe Power Corporation]], [[Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia|Municipal Electric Authority]] and [[Dalton Utilities]].<ref name="julydec-press">{{cite press release
  | title = Plant Wansley
  | publisher = Southern Company
  | date = 2005-07-31
  | url = http://www.southernco.com/generation/f_wansley.pdf
  | accessdate = 2007-01-12
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070101225040/http://www.southernco.com/generation/f_wansley.pdf
  | archive-date = 2007-01-01
  | url-status = dead
  }}</ref>

==Location==
The plant is located in the north-east corner of [[Heard County, Georgia]], about {{convert|20|km|mi}} south of Carrollton, and at about the same distance northeast of Franklin.

==Yellow Dirt Church Cemetery controversy==
[[File:Honoring Confederate Veteran Lewis H Brown, one of eight Confedeate Veterans in the two Yellow Dirt Church Cemeteries on 8 October 2011 after original flags were illegally removed by Georgia Power.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Civil War reenactors replacing Confederate flags removed by Georgia Power]] 
[[File: Yellow Dirt Church Cemetery, Heard County, Georgia panorama.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Yellow Dirt Church Cemetery, which has the graves of seven Confederate soldiers]]

Historic Yellow Dirt Church Cemetery is located on the grounds of the power plant. Visitors have to stop at the plant's gate and have a security guard escort them to the cemetery.<ref>{{cite web
  | title = Yellow Dirt Church Cemetery
  | publisher = RootsWeb
  | year = 2006
  | url = http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ala1davis/genealogy/states/georgia/heard/yellowdirt/yellowdirt.html
  | doi = 
  | accessdate = 2008-08-07}}</ref>

The cemetery was part of a larger tract of land owned by the Yellow Dirt Baptist Church (founded 1872).<ref name="SCV" /> When the church building and land was sold to Georgia Power, in 1971, the church (now Lighthouse Baptist Church of [[Franklin, Georgia]]) and congregation retained ownership to a two-acre parcel which including the cemetery.<ref name="SCV" /> Problems eventually arose, however, when Georgia Power employees attempted to assert control over the [[private property|private]] two-acre parcel. 
 
In September 2011, a Georgia Power employee entered the cemetery and removed seven [[Confederate flag]]s placed on the graves of Confederate veterans.<ref name="SCV" /> The flags were replaced in October 2011 by the local [[Sons of Confederate Veterans]], but were subsequently removed again by employees of the utility based on a company policy prohibiting the display of "offensive materials" on company property.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Staff Reports|date=2011-10-15|title=Sons of Confederacy Replace Flags on Graves, Georgia Power Removes Them|url=http://www.heardcitizen.com/sons-of-confederacy-replace-flags-on-graves-georgia-power-removes-them|access-date=2021-05-19|website=HeardCitizen.com|language=en-US}}</ref> Members of the [[congregational church|church congregation]], some of whom had [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] ancestors buried in the cemetery, protested.<ref name="SCV" /> Congregation members asserting their [[property rights]] to the cemetery, stating that the flags were not placed on company property and that Georgia Power had no right to interfere with the practice. Georgia Power conceded the matter after company attorneys completed a title search in November 2011.<ref name="SCV" /> Members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and descendants of Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery, who had earlier protested the utility's actions, returned to the cemetery to replace the confiscated flags<ref name="SCV">[http://www.ajc.com/news/brothers-win-for-now-1225320.html Brothers win–for now—fight over cemetery at Georgia Power's Plant Wansley]</ref>

==Individual units==
===Georgia Power Company owned===
* Two dual-use '''Units 1''' and '''2''' (also known as '''SG01''' and '''SG02''')<ref>{{cite court
  |litigants=Sierra Club, Physicians For Social Responsibility, illinois Forestwatch, and Eileen Lange  v. Georgia Power Company
  |vol=05-11314
  |reporter=U.S.
  |opinion=
  |pinpoint=
  |format=[[PDF]]
  |court=Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
  |date=2006-03-30
  |url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/circs/11th/0511314p.pdf }}</ref> can be fueled either by [[bituminous coal]] or by [[petroleum|oil]]. They are rated at 952 [[MWe]] each, and were launched into service in 1976 and 1978.<ref name=units>{{cite web
  | title = Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2006
  | publisher = [[Energy Information Administration]], U.S. Department of Energy
  | year = 2006
  | url = http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/page/capacity/capacity.html
  | format = Excel
  | doi = 
  | accessdate = 2008-07-14}}</ref> These were retired by the end of August 2022.<ref name=retired>{{cite web
  | title = MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
  | publisher = [[Southern Company]] via Market Screener
  | year = 2022
  | url = https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/SOUTHERN-COMPANY-14441/news/MANAGEMENT-S-DISCUSSION-AND-ANALYSIS-OF-FINANCIAL-CONDITION-AND-RESULTS-OF-OPERATIONS-41113659/
  | doi = 
  | accessdate = 2023-04-22}}</ref>
* Oil-fired '''Unit 5A''' is rated 52.8 MWe, it was launched in 1980.<ref name=units/>

===Southern Power owned===
* [[Natural gas]]-fired [[combined-cycle]] steam plant '''Units ST6''' and '''ST7''' are rated at 213.3 MWe each, and were launched in 2002.
* Natural gas-fired combined-cycle [[steam turbine]]s of '''Units CT6A, CT6B, CT7A,''' and '''CT7B''' are rated at 203.1 MWe each and were also launched in June, 2002.<ref name=units/>

Collectively, units ST6, CT6A, and CT6B are referred to as '''unit 6'''. Same is true about its twin '''unit 7'''.

===Oglethorpe Power Corporation owned===
'''Unit 8''', also known as '''Chattahoochee Energy Facility''',  consists of three combined-cycle gas-powered generators: '''1''' and '''2''', rated at 176 MWe each, and '''3''', rated at 187.7 MWe. All of them were launched into service in 2003.<ref name=units/><ref name=GPC/>

===Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia owned===
Wansley '''Unit 9''' consists of three combined-cycle gas-powered generators: '''CT1''' and '''CT2''', rated at 171 MWe each, and '''ST1''', rated at 226 MWe. All of them were launched into service in 2004.<ref name=units/>

==Coal delivery==
Coal is delivered via Norfolk Southern Railway Company unit coal trains 100-cars long, each carrying 10,000 tons of coal. At the plant, an automated unloading trestle empties the train in about 30 minutes and conveyor belts move the coal to the storage pile or the storage bunkers inside the plant. The bunkers hold a 14-hour reserve; the coal pile target inventory is a 32-day supply.<ref name=GPC/>

Coal is coarsely crushed at the mine then crushed again at the plant as it travels to the storage bunkers inside the boiler house. A pulverizer below each bunker grinds the coal to a fine powder that is mixed with air and blown into the boiler through a network of pipes. With both units at full load, Plant Wansley burns about 14,000 tons of coal every 24 hours. Annual consumption averages four to five million tons.<ref name=GPC/>

==Cooling water==
Cooling water is taken up from the "service water pond", created by [[dam]]ming a small creek flowing from the north-west into the [[Chattahoochee River]] immediately on the south-eastern side of the plant.

At coal-fired '''units 1 and 2''', water is converted to steam at {{convert|1000|F|C|sigfig=2}} temperature and {{convert|3600|psi|MPa|lk=on|adj=on|abbr=on}} pressure. At full 920 MWe load, each turbine processes {{convert|6200000|lb|metric ton|sigfig=2}} of steam per hour. Low-pressure steam exits the turbine into a condenser where it is cooled and converted back into the water to repeat the cycle. During this cooling process required by the [[second law of thermodynamics]], waste heat from the condensing steam is absorbed by the warm water that circulates through the cooling towers, where it cools by evaporation and [[forced convection]] of air.<ref name=GPC/>

==Environment==
Electrostatic precipitators on '''units 1 and 2''' remove more than 99% of the [[fly ash]] from the boiler exhaust stream. A digital boiler control system, low NO<sub>x</sub> burners, and selective catalytic reactors, installed since the initial operation, have reduced nitrogen oxide (NO<sub>x</sub>) emissions by almost 90%. The use of cooling towers and the closed-loop steam cycle prevent thermal pollution in the Chattahoochee River.

Wet scrubbers and hydrated lime injection systems remove almost all sulphur oxides from the flue gas as well.

==See also==
{{Portal|Energy|Georgia (U.S. state)}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b5385 Chimney diagram]

{{Supertall chimneys}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wansley Power Plant}}
[[Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 1976]]
[[Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 1978]]
[[Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 1980]]
[[Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 2002]]
[[Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 2003]]
[[Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 2004]]
[[Category:Towers completed in 1976]]
[[Category:Towers in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Heard County, Georgia]]
[[Category:Natural gas-fired power stations in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Coal-fired power stations in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Chimneys in the United States]]
[[Category:1976 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Oglethorpe Power]]
[[Category:Georgia Power]]