WHEATFIELD – A 499-foot double-stack concrete chimney is rising at NIPSCO’s R.M. Schahfer Generating Station. The $510 million project is the largest in the utility’s history.
The Schahfer Generating Station produces 1,780 megawatts of electricity and is the largest of NIPSCO’s generating facilities. It serves 457,000 residential customers.
When completed, the chimneys will contain environmental scrubbers that will eliminate particulates and sulfur dioxide emissions, allowing the plant to come into compliance with new Environmental Protection Agency regulations. The waste products removed by the scrubbers will be sent directly to the Georgia-Pacific plant next door where it will be used in the manufacture of wallboard.
The project is part of an $800 million project that will lower emissions at all of its generating plants over the next eight years. Once work is completed on the Schahfer Generating Station in 2013, work will begin on at the Michigan City Generating Station.
