Bow coal plant set to close by 2028 and become 'renewable energy park'
Mar. 27—Merrimack Station, the last coal-fired power plant in New England and a longtime target of conservation groups, will close to make way for a "renewable energy park," company officials announced Wednesday.
Owner Granite Shore Power reached an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to cease using its coal-fired boilers by at least June 1, 2028, maybe even a year earlier, according to the agreement, which includes a similar plan for Schiller Station in Portsmouth.
The agreement ends litigation brought by the Conservation Law Foundation and the Sierra Club, according to the organizations.
New England will be the second "coal-free" region in the United States after the Pacific Northwest, according to Bloomberg Philanthropies, which has worked with the Sierra Club to eliminate 72% of coal-fired power plants in the U.S. since 2011.
The plant mostly runs in the winter, when natural gas prices are high.
Since 2019, 350NH Action has called for the shutdown of the Bow plant through its "No coal, No Gas" campaign. Multiple rallies have resulted in arrests.
Failed stack tests and at least one boiler not working had the group thinking change at the plant was imminent, said Rebecca Beaulieu, communications director. The group was unaware of the plans to invest in clean energy.
She said the efforts of all the groups "pushed them to stop wasting their time" on the coal-fired power plants.
"I'm glad there is finally a deadline to close by," Beaulieu said.
Granite Shore Power said it has long planned to end the use of coal, and the agreement will spur new economic growth for the region, though specific plans for its renewable efforts have yet to be released. A news release mentions "battery, solar and other clean energy facilities."
"From our earliest days as owners and operators, we have been crystal clear; while our power occasionally is still on during New England's warmest days and coldest nights, we were firmly committed to transitioning our facilities away from coal and into a newer, cleaner energy future," Jim Andrews, CEO of Granite Shore Power, said in a statement.
Renewable energy plans
Schiller Station in Portsmouth, which uses fossil fuels only at times of peak demand, will stop by June 2025. A biomass boiler produces renewable energy around the clock, according to its website.
The station will transition into a battery energy storage system, "taking energy from the grid during low demand and putting it back on the grid during peak periods," according to the company.
The system will help store energy from wind power being built off the coast of Martha's Vineyard and in the Gulf of Maine.
"The New Hampshire Seacoast is an area of high-energy demand and through the repowering of Schiller Station, we will provide carbon neutral power to support the businesses and families of New Hampshire," Andrews said.
Merrimack Station has a maximum capacity of 482 megawatts between its two coal-fired steam units and two kerosene-fueled combustion turbines, which is typically only reached in peak winter months, according to its website.
A 50-50 partnership between Atlas Holdings of Greenwich, Connecticut, and Castleton Commodities International of Stamford, Connecticut, bought the plant from Eversource for $175 million in 2018. Castleton Commodities International no longer has an ownership interest, according to its website.
The plant will continue to operate while the 400-acre property is redeveloped.
"What closing and retiring these coal plants does is it really shuts the door and allows us to make investments towards renewables," said Cathy Corkery, senior organizer of the New Hampshire Sierra Club.
Josh Stebbins, managing attorney for the Sierra Club, said no further details have been provided on Granite Shore Power's plans for its clean energy center.
In 2019, the Sierra Club and Conservation Law Foundation sued the plant owners, saying the power plant did not meet permit requirements for monitoring thermal discharges.
