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The Clover Power Station is the flagship of Old
Dominion Electric Cooperative. Old Dominion owns half of this 880-megawatt,
advanced-technology coal-fired electric generating station in south-central
Virginia's Halifax
County. The station was designed and constructed by Old Dominion
beginning in the late 1980s, and culminating with the commercial start-up
dates for Unit One in October 1995 and Unit Two in March 1996. Virginia
Power also owns half of the station, and is responsible for operating the
station. About one-third of the station's $1.2 billion cost was spent on environmental protection, including scrubbers for removing 94 percent of sulfur dioxide and baghouses with a 99.9 percent removal efficiency for fly ash. When its 50 percent ownership in the Clover station is combined with its 11.6 percent ownership stake in the North Anna Nuclear Power Station, Old Dominion owns about 54 percent of the generating needs of its 12 member distribution systems. The other 46 percent is purchased from other utilities through contractual arrangements, in which Old Dominion shops the energy marketplace for the best deal for its member cooperatives. April, 1992 marked the groundbreaking for the Clover Power Station, a joint effort of Old Dominion Electric Cooperative and Virginia Power. When the first unit of the two-unit, 880-megawatt, coal-fired power station went on-line in 1995, Clover became the jewel of Virginia's utility industry. The second unit began commercial operation in 1996. The joint ownership of Clover is but one of the station's many unique characteristics. In a 50/50 partnership, Old Dominion was responsible for building the station and Virginia Power for operating it once the station was complete. The utilities share the generated power. Clover power is transmitted throughout Virginia to meet the ever-increasing electricity needs of the Commonwealth's growing population. Old Dominion provides its share of Clover power to its 12 member cooperatives in Virginia, Maryland & Delaware. Combined, these distribution co-ops serve more than 380,000 rural consumers. Old Dominion's service area includes about about one-third of Virginia's land mass and 10 percent of its population. Because Clover is a "baseload" station, it runs 24-hours a day, seven days a week to ensure a reliable supply of electricity to homes, farms and businesses. Besides providing the electricity so vital to Virginia's future economic and population growth, the Clover Power Station is providing a critical boost to the economies of the areas surrounding the station. And, by committing $400 million to pollution-control and other environmental technologies, Clover is enhancing the environment by replacing power from older stations. During its estimated 40-year lifespan, the Clover Station will be a magnet for other businesses seeking to locate in Halifax and surrounding counties in Southside Virginia. The Clover Power Station is a shining example of an industry bringing together many pieces to create an efficient, reliable source of clean electricity, while providing an economic and environmental boost to the community in which the facility is located. Old Dominion Electric Cooperative and Virginia Power deeded over 85 acres of land and a new visitor's center to the Commonwealth of Virginia to help expand the Staunton River Battlefield State Park that lies adjacent to the Clover Power Station site. The land and visitor's center, known as The Clover Center at Fort Hill, greatly enhanced the park site that had previously consisted of only seven acres and a granite monument recognizing the Civil War Battle that had been fought there. The Clover Center at Fort Hill features exhibits and displays recognizing the role electricity plays in our everyday lives and includes interactive displays describing how the Clover Power Station operates and generates electricity using coal as a fuel. It is one of two known visitor's centers in the United States that features coal-fired generation as its subject matter. The other half of the visitor's center facility features exhibits and displays outlining the events leading up to the Civil War battle fought there at Fort Hill. Displays containing artifacts and large models also describe to the visitor how the battle unfolded and its effects on the locality's residents and their way of life. The process of generating electricity from a coal-fired station is relatively basic. But with the magnitude of a facility such as the Clover station, the process requires enormous amounts of fuel, precision engineering and careful attention to the many details associated with the Clover Power Station. Once brought on-site, coal is burned to heat water to create steam. At Clover, this means burning 314 tons of coal each hour to heat the water and create steam in the two boilers that will reach 1,000 F. At the Clover Station, steam is collected in a 220-ton steam drum located at the top of the boiler at a pressure of 2,400 pounds per square inch. The steam is injected into the turbine causing the rotors to turn at 3,600 revolutions per minute, creating mechanical energy. This energy is transformed into electricity by a huge electromagnetic generator. Once created, the electricity voltage is increased by transformers before it is sent out via the transmission system. At its peak, the Clover Power Station generates about 880 megawatts -- 880,000 kilowatts -- of electricity. This could provide over 200,000 households with, reliable electrical energy. Clover will continue to be a vital link in ensuring that Virginia's future electricity needs are met in a clean, economical way. |
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