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Cleaner Coal

Energy for rural America begins with coal

America’s economy, security and energy independence are contingent upon leveraging our nation’s own natural resources. Basin Electric believes the process of creating our energy future begins with the mineral, gas, coal, renewable and oil resources available right here in the Upper Great Plains.

For every megawatt (MW) of electricity generated from renewable energy, there are large coal-fired or gas-fired base-load power plants running 24 hours a day to maintain an uninterrupted, reliable flow of thousands of megawatts to the transmission grid. Today, coal powers about 40 percent of global electricity consumption and 50 percent of electricity use in the United States. It is also an essential component in the steel and cement industries. Currently, 95 percent of Basin Electric's energy comes from coal.

Coal is America’s most affordable and plentiful fuel source. Basin Electric’s three base-load electric generation plants and its synthetic natural gas and byproducts facility are fueled by coal. We provide some of the most reliable, affordable and clean energy in America.

Cleaning coal

Percentage of electricity produced by fuel type (nationally).

At Basin Electric, we’ve been cleaning coal for a long time with decades of emissions and pollution control experience.

Five of our seven baseload units employ scrubbers, a process where flue gas desulphurization removes 80-90 percent of sulfur dioxide (SO2) from plant exhaust stacks.

Two of Basin Electric’s coal-based units also use bag houses – tightly woven cloth bags that function like a home vacuum cleaner and collect more than 99 percent of dust particles (fly ash) in the flue gas.

Five of our baseload units use electrostatic precipitators, which collect more than 99 percent of all ash particles for collection and disposal. Basin Electric facilities continue to operate in full environmental compliance. 

In 2006 Basin Electric’s remaining two baseload units - LOS Units 1 and 2, which didn't require scrubbers when they went into operation in 1966 and 1975, respectively - received approval for scrubber installation. The LOS emissions scrubber project is nearing completion.

The next major evolution in coal-based generation is coal gasification with zero emissions. Fortunately, Basin Electric is the parent company to an acknowledged leader in successful commercial operation of coal gasification technology, Dakota Gasification Company’s Great Plains Synfuels Plant near Beulah, ND. We’ve been gasifying coal successfully for almost 25 years and sequestering carbon dioxide emissions since 2000.

Go to the Dakota Coal Company page to learn how Basin Electric gets its fuel of choice for its North Dakota facilities.