Dynegy Inc.'s Baldwin Energy Complex in Baldwin, IL.

Location: Baldwin, Illinois

Specs: Two 600-MWe cyclone-fired units (1&2) and one 600-MWe tangentially fired unit. Each of Baldwin’s units is controlled with a Westinghouse Ovation DCS. The station is equipped with OSI’s PI data historian.

Site Goal(s): To leverage advanced information technologies to enhance its economic and competitive position while reducing NOx and GHG emissions. Challenges include the difficult to manage cyclone unit, the management of additional instrumentation and control systems that had recently been added, such as SCR, and the challenges of coordinating the actions of the three units toward plant emissions and economic goals.

Project Overview:  The Clean Coal Power Initiative Project, Round 1, concluded at the end of 2007 and was the first CCPI project to reach successful conclusion. The four-year, $19 million cost-shared power plant optimization project was awarded to NeuCo, Inc. in 2004 and encompassed the design, development and demonstration of separate but integrated online optimization systems at Dynegy’s three-unit 1800-MW Baldwin Energy Complex (BEC) in Baldwin, Illinois.  Quantitative project benefits included: reduced nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 12-14 percent; improved average heat rate (fuel efficiency) by 0.7 percent; increased available megawatt hours by an estimated 1.5 percent; reduced ammonia (NH3) consumption by 15-20 percent on a unit with SCR; commensurate reductions in greenhouse gases, mercury and particulates; and commensurate economic benefits from lower costs, improved reliability and greater commercial availability.  The suite of four integrated optimizers commercialized as part of this project are expected to yield under a one-year payback for average sized units across all unit types and fuel categories comprising the U.S. fossil power industry. The savings benefits available to the industry are estimated between $2.3 and $2.6 billion dollars per year.

• Papers/Presentations/Articles:
  Substantial progress shown in Clean Coal Initiative Results, Power Engineering Online, January 2005 

Results of Nation’s First Completed Clean Coal Power Initiative Project Announced, December 2008