Northern Indiana Public Service has two remaining flue gas desulfurization (FGD) projects at coal-fired electric generating facilities that remain on schedule and on budget, said parent NiSource (NYSE: NI) in an April 30 earnings presentation.
The FGD investments are part of approximately $860m in environmental investments, including water quality and emission-control projects, recently completed and planned at NIPSCO’s generating facilities. One of the remaining FGD projects is expected to be completed by the end of 2014 and the other by the end of 2015.
An FGD installation project was completed in 2013 at Schahfer Unit 14, while FGDs are in progress at Schahfer Unit 15 (in service in 2014) and Michigan City Unit 12 (in service in 2015).
NiSource said in the earnings report that there are also Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS)-related projects ongoing, but didn’t detail them. The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission in October 2013 approved a series of new air emissions control projects by NIPSCO on coal-fired capacity to meet MATS compliance needs.
NIPSCO’s MATS Compliance Plan includes different types of capital projects: activated carbon injection (ACI) and coal additives to reduce mercury emissions and transformer rectifier (TR) sets to reduce particulate matter (PM) emissions; and several incremental operating and maintenance (O&M) projects necessary to reduce emissions of mercury and PM to levels required by the MATS rule.
The MATS capital projects that the commission approved last October include the following:
- Bailly Unit 7 (160 MW), ACI (mercury reduction) and fuel additives (mercury reduction);
- Bailly Unit 8 (320 MW), ACI and fuel additives;
- Michigan City Unit 12 (469 MW), ACI and fuel additives;
- Schahfer Unit 14 (431 MW), ACI, fuel additives and TR sets (PM reduction);
- Schahfer Unit 15 (472 MW), ACI, fuel additives and TR sets;
- Schahfer Unit 17 (361 MW), TR sets; and
- Schahfer Unit 18 (361 MW), TR sets.
