Coal Refuse

The RRI Seward Electric Station utilizes coal refuse to generate electric power, bringing economic and environmental benefits to Pennsylvania. The 521-MW Seward facility incorporates Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) technology, and is capable of reliably burning coal refuse to produce electricity while meeting stringent environmental requirements. In fact, the facility is capable of producing more than twice the power with lower emissions than the plant it replaced. For these accomplishments, the Seward facility was named the "2004 Power Plant of the Year" by POWER Magazine and received the "2004 Pennsylvania Governor's Environmental Excellence" award.

To fuel the Seward Station, more than 100 million tons of low-grade coal refuse will be removed from the Pennsylvania landscape over the next twenty years. Since waste coal is a significant source of acid mine drainage (AMD), elimination of this waste material will result in cleaning up the Conemaugh River and Kiskiminitis River basins. Beneficial use of the plant’s coal combustion products to remediate abandoned mines will further reduce the potential for future AMD from old mine sites. Utilization of coal refuse provides fuel supply flexibility for generators when prices of other fuels – oil and natural gas, for example – increase.