Rock River Generating Station

Rock River Generating Station
Location of Rock River Generating Station in USA Wisconsin
Country United States
Location Town of Beloit, Wisconsin
Coordinates 42°34′55″N 89°1′39″W / 42.58194°N 89.02750°WCoordinates: 42°34′55″N 89°1′39″W / 42.58194°N 89.02750°W
Commission date Unit 1 1952
Unit 2 1953
Owner(s) Wisconsin Power and Light
Thermal power station
Primary fuel Natural gas, originally coal
Type Steam turbine
Combined cycle? no
Cooling source Rock River
Power generation
Units operational 2

Rock River Generating Station is an electrical power station located north of Beloit, Wisconsin in the town of Beloit at 827 (West Beloit Rock) W. B. R. Townline Road on the west bank of the Rock River. The facility is owned and operated by Wisconsin Power and Light, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alliant Energy.

History

The facility opened in the early 1950s and consists of two at 969.6 mmBtu per hour (284.2 MW) Babcock and Wilcox cyclone boilers each with one steam turbine. Originally designed to burn Illinois Basin bituminous coal supplied by rail car or barge, the site switched to natural gas or lower sulfur Powder River Basin coal. Additionally, a 30 MW combustion turbine was added in 1967 and two 50 MW combustion turbines were added between 1972 and 1977. As of 2000, the boilers were capable of operating on a variety of fuel sources, including natural gas, Powder River Basin coal, #2 fuel oil and tire-derived fuel.[1] Coal has not been burned at the site since 2007 because the facility closed the landfill it had used for fly ash.[2] Electricity is generated via steam turbines and process water is taken from the Rock River.

Adjacent facilities

An Alliant maintenance facility, Southern Area, and Riverside Energy Center, a 603 MW combined cycle natural gas facility owned by Calpine, are located adjacent to the station.[3][4][5]

Gallery

See also

References

External links