Allen S. King  Reclamation Project

Introduction
The Allen S. King plant will need additional ash storage capacity within the next decade. Our existing ash storage facility is nearing capacity and we must make preparations to develop a new one to support continued operation of the King plant. Xcel Energy currently is pursuing land acquisition options for construction of a new facility.

Plant description 
Allen S. King is a single-unit coal-fired generating plant with a cyclone boiler located on the St. Croix River in Oak Park Heights, Minnesota.  The plant provides base load electric service, operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The unit is capable of generating almost 600 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough power to serve more than half a million typical homes. It’s also one of the lowest cost operating units in Xcel Energy’s system.

At the King plant, coal is burned as fuel to make heat, which changes water into steam to turn a turbine that drives a generator to produce electricity. A by-product of the coal combustion process is ash. Coal ash is an inorganic substance not unlike what you would find in your fireplace or charcoal grill. Xcel Energy manages its power plant ash in a specially designed storage facility that is permitted and inspected by the state.

Ash disposal
King plant needs additional landfill capacity to continue long term operations. The plant’s existing ash disposal facility located in Oak Park Heights is nearing capacity, so we need to start the site acquisition and permitting process now to make sure that the new facility is available when it’s needed. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission’s approval of our Minnesota Emission Reduction Project (MERP) makes new ash storage capacity even more critical. That’s because new emissions control equipment that has been installed at King plant through MERP will capture more releases from the coal combustion process as ash.

The facility we are proposing will be about 40-50 acres in size and have a 20-year minimum life. Our plan is to design the new facility to enable land to be reclaimed to green space as sections (cells) are filled to capacity. This approach is similar to what we are currently doing at our Oak Park Heights facility.

Visit this Link for answers to some commonly asked questions: FAQ (70 KB PDF)

Visit this Link for more information about the Environmental Impact Statement that has been developed for this project.

For more information, contact:

• Darrell Knutson, Project Manager
• 651.731.5751
• email:darrell.g.knutson@xcelenergy.com