Tucson Electric Power is tearing down the last remnants of coal operations at its largest local power plant as it moves to cleaner energy sources.
This month, crews started removing obsolete coal-handling facilities at TEPβs H. Wilson Sundt Generating Station on East Irvington Road. Demolition continues this week on a 130-foot-tall, metal-sided βcoal barnβ along the southern edge of TEPβs Irvington Campus near Interstate 10.
TEP stopped burning coal at the Sundt plant in 2015 as part of a long-term plan to build a cleaner, more diverse energy portfolio, and amid protests from local environmental groups.
TEP plans to get 70% of its power from wind and solar resources and reduce carbon emissions by 80% percent by 2035.
The Sundt plant now runs only on natural gas, and two older gas units have been replaced by new, more efficient reciprocating natural-gas engines that can quickly ramp up to support increased use of renewable resources.
The coal structure at Sundt was built after TEP was ordered by the Department of Energy in 1982 to start burning coal at the gas-fired plant, under a federal law aimed at preserving domestic supplies of natural gas during the energy crisis.
TEP converted just one of four units at the plant to burn coal before the law was repealed in 1987.
Additional coal facilities at Sundt will be removed, including a facility used to unload coal-laden railroad cars. In all, 5,000 cubic yards of dirt will be moved, along with 2,000 cubic yards of concrete and 1,000 tons of steel. The metal will be recycled, TEP said.
