Southern Company
Subsidiary to Open the Nation's First Mercury Research Center This Month
Dec 5, 2005 - PR Newswire
ATLANTA, Dec. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In a dedication ceremony
today, Southern Company's Gulf Power subsidiary announced that the
nation's first-of- the-kind comprehensive Mercury Research Center will
begin operations this month at its Plant Crist electric generation
plant, which is located north of Pensacola, Florida.
(Logo:
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"We have historically been an industry leader in research and
development, including our current and past efforts in testing controls
for reducing mercury emissions," said David Ratcliffe, Southern
Company's chairman, president and CEO. "This innovative center will
allow us to take our mercury research to the next level as we continue
to seek the most cost-effective and efficient solutions for lowering
mercury emissions from our power plants."
Gulf Power's Mercury Research Center expands upon Southern Company's
ongoing mercury control research by testing various state- of-the-art
technologies to assess their long-term performance and reliability in
reducing mercury emissions. The research conducted at the center will
not only benefit Southern Company and its affiliates but also other
electric utility companies, environmental research organizations and
governmental scientists.
"Every year, Southern Company generates more and more electricity to
meet the growing energy needs of our customers," said Paul Bowers,
president of Southern Company Generation. "And every year, we increase
our level of commitment to finding the right environmental solutions for
controlling power plant emissions, including mercury emissions, which
will allow us to further reduce the impact of our operations on the
environment."
The first phase of testing at Gulf Power's Mercury Research Center
will evaluate the performance of five different advanced control
technologies using a portion of the plant's emissions for the research.
Technologies installed at the Center are estimated to cost $5 million
and will include a selective catalytic reduction unit, a rotary air
pre-heater, a baghouse, an electro- static precipitator, and a wet
limestone scrubber. As the research continues, other emission reduction
methods may be discovered and further developed. The center will be
operated by Southern Research Institute and access to perform testing at
the facility will be open to other companies and researchers.
"Our commitment to our customers is to provide low-cost, reliable and
environmentally responsible electricity," said Penny Manuel, vice
president over generating plants for Gulf Power. "This research center
is the latest in a long history of Gulf Power going beyond requirements
to find solutions for the future. It's what our customers have come to
trust from us."
Since 2000, when Southern Company's operating subsidiary Alabama
Power was chosen by the U.S. Department of Energy for the nation's first
full-scale mercury control testing, company plants in Alabama, Georgia
and Mississippi have been actively testing mercury control technologies,
including the award- winning activated carbon injection technology,
developed by ADA-Environmental Solutions.
Mercury emissions from power plants amount to the equivalent of about
5 grains of sugar for every ton of coal burned used. According to the
Environmental Protection Agency and the Electric Power Research
Institute, mercury emissions from power plants represent about 1% of the
total global, airborne emissions.
With more than 4 million customers and more than 40,000 megawatts of
generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the
premier super-regional energy company in the Southeast and a leading
U.S. producer of electricity. Southern Company owns electric utilities
in four states, a growing competitive generation company and a
competitive retail natural gas business, as well as fiber optics and
wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent
customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are
15 percent below the national average. Southern Company has been ranked
the nation's top energy utility in the American Customer Satisfaction
Index six years in a row.
Southern Company has more than 500,000 shareholders, making its
common stock one of the most widely held in the United States. Visit the
Southern Company Web site at
www.southerncompany.com. SOURCE Southern Company
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