Midland Cogeneration Venture
Encyclopedia
The Midland Cogeneration Venture (MCV) is a natural gas fired electrical and steam co-generation plant in Midland, Michigan
owned by Midland Cogeneration Venture Limited Partnership. When it began operation in 1991, it was the largest gas-fired steam recovery power plant in the world.
Originally designed as the Midland Nuclear Power Plant
with twin pressurized water reactors similar in design to those at Palisades, owner Consumers Power abandoned the project, which was 85% complete, in 1984 citing numerous construction problems. These problems included sinking and cracking of some buildings on the site due to poor soil compaction prior to construction, as well as shifting regulatory requirements following the 1979 accident
at Three Mile Island
. Construction was also opposed by environmentalists, led by Midland resident, Mary P. Sinclair
.
By then, 17 years and $4 billion US had been invested in the project. Consumers Power, nearly bankrupted by the project, formed a holding company, CMS Energy
for it to be a subsidiary of and eventually changed its name to Consumers Energy.
Conversion of the plant began in 1986 and was completed at a cost of $500 million, almost twice the original estimate of the nuclear facility. First electrical production occurred in 1991. The plant produces 1,560 Megawatts of electricity for Consumers and 1.35 million pounds per hour of industrial steam for Dow Chemical. The electrical capacity is approximately 10% of the power consumption for the lower peninsula of Michigan.
On July 17, 2002, one of the unused 84-ton nuclear reactor vessel heads was removed from its containment building for transportation to Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station near Toledo, Ohio, where it replaced a damaged vessel head on a reactor built by the same contractor as the Midland units, Babcock and Wilcox
.
Consumers owned a 49 percent share in Midland Cogeneration Venture until 2006. Eight other companies own the remaining 51 percent.
Midland, Michigan
Midland is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan in the Tri-Cities region of the state. It is the county seat of Midland County. The city's population was 41,863 as of the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Midland Micropolitan Statistical Area....
owned by Midland Cogeneration Venture Limited Partnership. When it began operation in 1991, it was the largest gas-fired steam recovery power plant in the world.
Originally designed as the Midland Nuclear Power Plant
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
with twin pressurized water reactors similar in design to those at Palisades, owner Consumers Power abandoned the project, which was 85% complete, in 1984 citing numerous construction problems. These problems included sinking and cracking of some buildings on the site due to poor soil compaction prior to construction, as well as shifting regulatory requirements following the 1979 accident
Three Mile Island accident
The Three Mile Island accident was a core meltdown in Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg, United States in 1979....
at Three Mile Island
Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station
Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station is a civilian nuclear power plant located on Three Mile Island in the Susquehanna River, south of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It has two separate units, known as TMI-1 and TMI-2...
. Construction was also opposed by environmentalists, led by Midland resident, Mary P. Sinclair
Mary P. Sinclair
Mary P. Sinclair was an American environmental activist and "one of the nation’s foremost lay authorities on nuclear energy and its impact on the natural and human environment".-Early life:...
.
By then, 17 years and $4 billion US had been invested in the project. Consumers Power, nearly bankrupted by the project, formed a holding company, CMS Energy
CMS Energy
CMS Energy is a public utility supplying electric power and natural gas to Metro Detroit and most of Michigan. Its headquarters are located in Jackson, Michigan. The company has operated since 1890....
for it to be a subsidiary of and eventually changed its name to Consumers Energy.
Conversion of the plant began in 1986 and was completed at a cost of $500 million, almost twice the original estimate of the nuclear facility. First electrical production occurred in 1991. The plant produces 1,560 Megawatts of electricity for Consumers and 1.35 million pounds per hour of industrial steam for Dow Chemical. The electrical capacity is approximately 10% of the power consumption for the lower peninsula of Michigan.
On July 17, 2002, one of the unused 84-ton nuclear reactor vessel heads was removed from its containment building for transportation to Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station near Toledo, Ohio, where it replaced a damaged vessel head on a reactor built by the same contractor as the Midland units, Babcock and Wilcox
Babcock and Wilcox
The Babcock & Wilcox Company is a U.S.-based company that provides design, engineering, manufacturing, construction and facilities management services to nuclear, renewable, fossil power, industrial and government customers worldwide. B&W's boilers supply more than 300,000 megawatts of installed...
.
Consumers owned a 49 percent share in Midland Cogeneration Venture until 2006. Eight other companies own the remaining 51 percent.