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{{Short description|Electricity-generating plant in Maryland, US}}
{{Infobox power station
| name = Chalk Point Generating Station
| name_official =
| image = Chalk Point Generating Station 5-19-2019.jpg
| image_caption = Chalk Point Generating Station in 2019
| image_alt =
| coordinates = {{coord|38|32|37|N|76|41|19|W|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_ref =
| country = United States
| location = [[Eagle Harbor, Maryland]]
| status = O
| construction_began =
| commissioned =
| decommissioned = June 2021 (Unit 1 & 2)
| cost =
| owner = [[NRG Energy]]
| operator =
| employees =
| th_fuel_primary = Oil and natural gas (Units 3 & 4)
| th_fuel_secondary =
| th_fuel_tertiary =
| ps_units_operational = 2 × 659 MWe (Units 3 & 4)
| ps_units_manu_model =
| th_cogeneration =
| th_combined_cycle =
| ps_electrical_capacity =
| ps_electrical_cap_fac =
| ps_annual_generation =
| website =
| extra =
}}
The '''Chalk Point Generating Station''' is an [[Electricity generation|electricity-generating]] plant, comprising oil and natural gas fired units, owned by [[NRG Energy]], located near the town of [[Eagle Harbor, Maryland]], United States, on the [[Patuxent River]].

Plant operator [[GenOn Energy Holdings]] closed the two coal-fired units at the plant in June 2021.<ref>{{cite news |last=Shwe |first=Elizabeth |title=Md. Coal-Fired Power Plant Will Retire Five Years Early — Before Worker Retraining Kicks In |url=https://www.marylandmatters.org/2021/06/14/md-coal-fired-power-plant-will-retire-five-years-early-before-worker-retraining-kicks-in/ |date=2021-06-14 |work=Maryland Matters}}</ref> Environmental and community advocates supported the closure, but highlighted the lack of plan in Maryland to support a "[[Just Transition]]" for the community and employees of the plant.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Shwe |first=Elizabeth |date=2020-08-14 |title=Two Coal Plants in Prince George's County Will Shut Down By Next Year |url=https://www.marylandmatters.org/2020/08/14/two-coal-plants-in-prince-georges-county-will-shut-down-by-next-year/|access-date=2020-09-07 |website=Maryland Matters}}</ref>

==Individual Units==
The facility consists of Units 3 and 4, which are oil and natural gas fired units rated at 659 [[MWe]] each, put into service in 1975 and 1981. These units are cooled by natural draft [[cooling towers]]. The units comprise seven [[combustion turbine]]s owned and operated by NRG.
* Oil-fired units GT1 and GT2 (put into service in 1967 and 1974) are rated at 16 MWe and 35 MWe.
* Oil/gas-fired units GT3–GT6 (put into service in 1991) are rated at 103, 103, 125, and 125 MWe respectively.
* Unit SGT1, an oil/gas-fired combustion turbine, is rated at 94 MWe and was put into service in 1990. The turbine was owned by the [[Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative]] (SMECO) until 2015, when it was acquired by NRG.<ref>{{cite web |last=Cassell |first=Barry |title=FERC okays NRG buy of 77-MW unit at Chalk Point plant in Maryland |url=https://www.transmissionhub.com/articles/2015/11/ferc-okays-nrg-buy-of-77-mw-unit-at-chalk-point-plant-in-maryland.html |date=2015-11-20 |website=Transmission Hub |publisher=Endeavor Business Media |location=Tulsa, OK}}</ref>

The combined name-plate capacity of all seven combustion turbines is 601 MWe.<ref>{{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 |accessdate=2008-07-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Maryland Department of Natural Resources |author-link=Maryland Department of Natural Resources |title=Environmental Review of the Proposed Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) Project at the Chalk Point Generating Station |publisher=[[Maryland Public Service Commission]] Case No. 9086 docket |date=2007-04-02 |url=http://webapp.psc.state.md.us/Intranet/CaseNum/NewIndex3_VOpenFile.cfm?filepath=C:\Casenum\9000-9099\9086\Item_19\%5CERD_Sect_12.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000733/http://webapp.psc.state.md.us/Intranet/CaseNum/NewIndex3_VOpenFile.cfm?filepath=C:%5CCasenum%5C9000-9099%5C9086%5CItem_19%5C%5CERD_Sect_12.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Units ST1 and ST2, closed in 2021, are coal-fired dry-bottom, wall-fired steam generating plants rated at 364 MWe each. They were put into service in 1964 and 1965.

==History==
The Chalk Point plant began service in 1964.<ref name="GenOn">GenOn Energy, Houston, TX. [http://www.genon.com/company/stations/chalkpoint.aspx "Chalk Point Generating Station."] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111109214506/http://www.genon.com/company/stations/chalkpoint.aspx |date=November 9, 2011 }} Accessed 2011-06-28.</ref> All of the GenOn generating units at the Chalk Point Generating Station were built by the [[Potomac Electric Power Company]], which sold them to the [[Southern Company]] in December 2000 as a result of the [[Maryland Electric Deregulation|restructuring of the electricity generating industry in Maryland]]. The station was included in the [[Mirant]] [[Corporate spin-off|spin-off]] from the Southern Company in April 2001. Mirant was merged into [[GenOn Energy Holdings|GenOn Energy]] in 2010,<ref>{{cite news |title=Merger of Energy Producers To Form $3 Billion Company |first=Michael J. |last=de la Merced |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07EFDB1031F931A25757C0A9669D8B63&ref=mirantcorporation |work=The New York Times |date=2010-04-12}}</ref> and GenOn merged into NRG in 2012.<ref>{{cite news |title=NRG Energy to Buy GenOn in Move to Bolster Stocks and Cut Costs |first=Michael J. |last=de la Merced |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE0DA103EF930A15754C0A9649D8B63 |work=The New York Times |date=2012-07-23}}</ref>

In 2013 NRG signaled that it planned to retire the Chalk Point Generating Station and Dickerson Generating Station in May 2017 but the plant held on for at least another decade.<ref>{{cite web |title=CHALK POINT AND DICKERSON COAL PLANTS SET TO RETIRE |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212014200/https://content.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2013/12/chalk-point-and-dickerson-coal-plants-set-retire |access-date=17 July 2024 |ref=December 6, 2013}}</ref> GenOn announced in August 2020 that it planned to shut down the two coal-fired units in June 2021. Environmental and community advocates supported the closure, but highlighted the lack of plan in Maryland to support a [[Just Transition]] for the community and employees of the plant.<ref name=":0" />

==Fuel delivery==
Coal was delivered to the Chalk Point generating station by [[CSX Transportation]] trains via the [[Pope's Creek Subdivision#Current operation|Herbert Subdivision]], a former [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] (PRR) line. This line is accessed via the [[Amtrak]] [[Northeast Corridor]] line. The coal was delivered from trains staged at the CSX [[Capital Subdivision#Alexandria Extension|Benning Yard]] (also former PRR facilities) in Anacostia, Washington, DC.

==Dispatch of electricity==
The electrical output of Chalk Point Generating Station is dispatched by the [[PJM Interconnection]] [[Regional Transmission Organization|regional transmission organization]].<ref name="GenOn" />

==Environmental impacts==
In 2006 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that the Chalk Point plant emitted over 21 lbs/MWh of [[sulfur dioxide]] (SO2), ranked as the 24th largest such emitter in the United States.<ref name="EIP">{{cite report |title=Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants |url=http://environmentalintegrity.org/pdf/publications/Dirty_Kilowatts_2007.pdf |date=July 2007 |publisher=Environmental Integrity Project |location=Washington, DC}}</ref>{{rp|12}} It was ranked as the 43rd largest emitter of [[nitrogen oxide]]s ({{NOx}}).<ref name="EIP"/>{{rp|16}} In 2010 EPA reported that Chalk Point emitted 4.7 million metric tons of [[carbon dioxide]] (CO2).<ref>{{cite web |title=Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Large Facilities; Data Year: 2010 |url=https://ghgdata.epa.gov/ghgp/service/facilityDetail/2010?id=1000649&ds=E&et=&popup=true |access-date=2021-01-23 |website=Facility Level Information on Greenhouse Gases Tool |publisher=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref> In 2019 the plant emitted 0.6 million metric tons of CO2.<ref>{{cite web |title=Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Large Facilities; Data Year: 2019 |url=https://ghgdata.epa.gov/ghgp/service/facilityDetail/2019?id=1000649&ds=E&et=&popup=true |access-date=2021-01-23 |website=Facility Level Information on Greenhouse Gases Tool |publisher=EPA}}</ref>

In August 2018, the [[Maryland Department of the Environment]] (MDE) required three generating stations across the state, including Chalk Point, to meet current federal wastewater standards ([[effluent guidelines]]) by November 2020. The coal-fired units at these plants discharged [[arsenic]] and [[Mercury (element)|mercury]] to their respective receiving waters, as allowed by 1980s-era pollution standards under expired permits. Upgrading the plants' treatment systems to Maryland's current standards "could reduce discharges of toxic metals by 97 percent."<ref>{{cite news |title=Maryland requires three coal power plants to limit arsenic, mercury water pollution starting in 2020 |first=Scott |last=Dance |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/environment/bs-md-coal-water-pollution-20180814-story.html# |newspaper=Baltimore Sun |date=2018-08-14}}</ref> EPA published the updated federal standards in 2015.<ref>{{cite web |title=Steam Electric Power Generating Effluent Guidelines - 2015 Final Rule |url=https://www.epa.gov/eg/steam-electric-power-generating-effluent-guidelines-2015-final-rule |date=2018-11-30 |publisher=EPA}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Maryland|Energy}}
*[[List of largest power stations in the United States]]
*[[List of power stations in Maryland]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Power stations in Maryland}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 1964]]
[[Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 1965]]
[[Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 1975]]
[[Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 1981]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Prince George's County, Maryland]]
[[Category:Oil-fired power stations in Maryland]]
[[Category:Coal-fired power stations in Maryland]]
[[Category:NRG Energy]]

Chalk Point Generating Station - Revision history

imported>SimLibrarian: Updated short description