Consumers Energy says it will partner with a Canadian company to turn coal ash deposits at a retiring power plant into something new.
Consumers is shutting down the J.H. Campbell Generation Complex, on Lake Michigan near Holland, later this year. It will be the company’s last coal-fired power plant to be shuttered.
Consumers estimates there are about 6 million tons of coal ash landfilled at the Campbell site from over six decades of operation. But the utility now says that, working with the Canadian company Ashcor Technologies, it will be transformed into something that could benefit the environment instead: a material that can replace cement in concrete manufacturing.
Coal ash is a byproduct of burning coal, and contains harmful substances like mercury, arsenic, and cadmium. If the ash isn’t contained properly, it can contaminate nearby soil, waterways, and groundwater with a toxic slurry.
But some components of coal ash--especially a fine, powdery substance known as fly ash—can be recycled into materials that can substitute for cement in building materials. This has a number of environmental benefits: cement production is carbon-intensive, and it reduces the need for new raw materials, as well as removing the coal ash itself from the environment.
Norm Kapala, Consumers Vice President of Generation Operations, said Ashcor will build its coal ash repurposing facility on the Campbell Complex site. He said the partnership with Ashcor makes sense on both environmental and economic fronts.
“When we were approached and did the analysis on the value that the coal ash has, it does hit all those marks, where we're able to have a facility that still serves the community,” Kapala said.
Kapala said the Ashcor facility is expected to be operational by 2027, and they expect the venture to run for about 20 years. “We're going to remediate about 3,000 tons [of coal ash] a year,” he said. “And over that 20-year period, that will remediate the entirety of that 6 million tons.”
Ashcor is a subsidiary of the Calgary, Alberta-based energy giant ATCO. This will be Ashcor’s first foray into the U.S. market for “beneficial re-use” of coal ash, and the company’s third such facility overall.
“We’re very pleased that we will be able to reclaim ash from the Campbell Generating Complex, transforming it into a high-quality supplementary cement replacement material,” AshCor President John Tiberi said in a statement. “Ultimately, this manufactured ash can substitute up to 30% of traditional, carbon-intensive portland cement, making it a more sustainable solution for countless construction projects and concrete applications. This will be our third [such]facility, and we are eager to incorporate our operational expertise into a state-of-the-art design, tailored to J.H. Campbell’s site and the market demands of the Great Lakes area.”
Editor's note: Consumers Energy is among Michigan Public's corporate sponsors.
