Salem Harbor Power Station

Salem Harbor Power Station, located on a 65-acre waterfront site in historic Salem, Massachusetts, generates about 583 megawatts.

The station consists of one coal-fired generating unit and one oil-fired unit. The coal-fired Unit 3 produces 150 megawatts and the oil-fired Unit 4 produces 433 megawatts.

Unit 3 is equipped with low-NOx burners and a selective non-catalytic reduction system to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides, and with electrostatic precipitators to trap fly ash. Unit 4 is equipped with an electrostatic precipitator to trap fly ash.

Salem Harbor began commercial operation in 1951. Dominion purchased the station in February 2005.

Units 1 & 2 were shut down December 31, 2011. Units 3 & 4 will cease operations and the station will be retired on June 1, 2014.

About the Environment

Salem Harbor Power Station is operated in compliance with strict Massachusetts environmental regulations (which are among the most stringent regulations in the country) through switching to coal that has low sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions rates and by using low-sulfur oil. It also installed systems that allow the station to handle and store the new coal.

The continued use of low-emission coal will allow Salem Harbor to continue to meet Massachusetts’s strict air emissions standards. Dominion plans to test other measures that will place the units in compliance with mercury emission limits of 95 percent beginning in October 2012.

Dominion also participates in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) auctions that began in September 2008.

Beneficial Use of Coal Ash

Coal combustion byproducts (CCBs), primarily fly ash, are generated at our fleet of coal-fired power plants, including Salem Harbor. CCBs have been used in numerous construction-related applications for many years, including fill for construction projects and in mine reclamation, to name two examples.

Dominion has actively sought out beneficial uses for our CCBs that are technically feasible and economically viable, to avoid using up landfill capacity for ash disposal. CCB reuse has increased significantly in recent years, due in part to the additional reuse of CCB's from Salem Harbor.