History
Planning for Coffeen Plant began in 1958. Construction began in 1962. The project was completed when Unit 2 was placed into commercial operation 10 years later.
Operation
After delivery, coal is moved from storage into the plant where it is ignited to produce heat required to generate steam in one of the plant’s two boilers. Each boiler is equipped with cyclone burners (eight burners for the Unit 1 boiler and 14 burners for the Unit 2 boiler.) Each burner is essentially a 10-foot diameter barrel fed with crushed coal and air. Each burns particles of coal the size of a pea. This process requires less equipment and horsepower to crush the coal, versus grinding the coal into the consistency of talcum powder as is done at AmerenEnergy Generating Company’s other coal-fired plants. At full capacity, the plant burns approximately 450 tons of coal per hour to produce 6.7 million pounds of steam per hour.
In greatly simplified terms, here’s how electricity is generated: The boiler heats water to create steam that flows into a turbine. The turbine turns a shaft connected to the generator. On the end of the shaft is a magnet that revolves inside a coil to create electricity.
Fuel Type
The plant typically burns about two million tons of coal annually.
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