Monroe Power Plant stack demolition resumes

MONROE, Mich., May 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Demolition work resumed last week on one of the two original 800-foot exhaust stacks at DTE Energy's Monroe Power Plant. The original stacks date to the early 1970s and are being replaced by new 580-foot stacks built to support the operation of new flue gas desulfurization systems, emissions control systems also known as scrubbers or FGDs.

These systems significantly reduce sulfur dioxide, mercury and other emissions. The new stacks are necessary to accommodate the moisture that is added to the exhaust by the emissions reduction process.

The current schedule calls for demolition of the southern stack to be complete in October. The original northern stack will be taken out of service in 2014, when all four generating units will be operating with scrubbers. Pullman Power of Kansas City, Mo., is performing the stack demolition and has extensive experience in stack construction, maintenance and demolition.

As the stack demolition moves into the final phase, construction of the new emission control systems continues. Construction of the FGD systems for Units 1 and 2 is about 50 percent complete and on schedule to be in operation by mid-2014.  Approximately 250 construction trades personnel are working on the FGD project. In addition, construction of a selective catalytic reduction system (SCR) – which reduces nitrogen oxide emissions by about 90 percent – is underway on the plant's northernmost generating unit (Unit 2) and will be complete in 2014.  SCRs are in already in operation on the plant's other three units.

"I'm very pleased with the overall quality of the work and our adherence to schedule," said Dan Fahrer, director, environmental and fossil facilities. "But I am especially happy about the extraordinary safety record that we achieved on this massive project. Our safety record on this project is more than three times safer than state and national averages for major construction projects."

Fahrer credits this record to the sharp focus on safety maintained by all personnel and to safety partnership established between DTE Energy, the primary contractors on the project -- URS, Ideal Contracting, Babcock and Wilcox, and Hamon Custodis -- the Michigan Building Trades and the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA).

The Monroe Power Plant is the first coal-fired power plant in Michigan to operate with scrubbers.  It's also the first plant in Michigan that operates scrubbers in combination with SCR systems. When operating together 75 to 90 percent of mercury emissions are eliminated. The operation of an FGD and an SCR or each generating unit will assure that the plant will meet new federal emissions standards that will take effect Jan. 1, 2015.

DTE Energy (NYSE: DTE) is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Its operating units include Detroit Edison, an electric utility serving 2.2 million customers in Southeastern Michigan, MichCon, a natural gas utility serving 1.2 million customers in Michigan and other non-utility, energy businesses focused on power and industrial projects, coal and gas midstream, unconventional gas production and energy trading. Information about DTE Energy is available at www.dteenergy.com.

SOURCE DTE Energy