Brayton Point Power Station is located on 306 acres of land at the head of Narragansett Bay in Somerset, Massachusetts. The station, New England's largest fossil-fueled generating facility, consists of four generating units that produce enough electricity to power about 1.5 million homes, using low-sulfur coal, natural gas and fuel oil as its fuel.
Brayton Point consists of three coal-fired units – the 243-megawatt Unit 1, 240-megawatt Unit 2, and 612-megawatt Unit 3 – the 435-megawatt Unit 4, which uses natural gas or oil to generate 435 megawatts, and three diesel-generators with a combined output of 7.6 megawatts.
Brayton Point's excellent operating record, combined with its large output of electricity, has established the station as an important contributor to reliable electric service in the region. Electricity generated at Brayton Point is sold into New England’s wholesale power market.
Dominion purchased Brayton Point in January 2005.
Dominion has invested approximately $570 million to reduce dramatically the amount of cooling water the station uses from Mt. Hope Bay, thereby minimizing the thermal impact on the bay. A closed-loop system reduces the required amount of cooling water by more than 90 percent.
Investments in air emissions equipment at Brayton include an ash recovery system that offsets about 170,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year and reduces landfill needs. Other equipment has been or is being installed by Dominion to reduce significantly sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury emissions.
These modifications will bring the company's investments in environmental improvements at Brayton Point to approximately $1.1 billion since the station was acquired in 2005.
View a time-lapse video of the towers being built.
Net Generating Capacity: 1,537.6 megawatts
Generating Capacity by Unit:
Commercial Operation: 1963
Station Employees: +/- 190
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