By Logan Harle
Intern
Duke Energy imploded the first of three boilers at its L.V. Sutton Plant in Wilmington on Sunday as part of its years-long process to convert the plant from coal to natural gas. The company released photos and video of the implosion, which dropped the building-sized structure to the ground, creating a flurry of rubble, debris and dust.
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The demolition is part of a process that began more than three years ago when Duke Energy replaced the coal-fired steam boilers with a combined-cycle, natural gas-powered operation at its plant of U.S. 421 north of the city.
The April 10th implosion is first of three scheduled to take place at the Sutton Plant, with the next scheduled for May and the final demolitions anticipated in the fall.
The retiring of the boilers and coal units were part of the plan that started in 2013 in replacing the older, less efficient coal plants and moving to more advanced technology, powered by natural gas and cleaner coal, Duke Energy said. The new natural gas-fired plant generates electricity more efficiently for customers and with lower emissions than the coal plant did during its operation.
Part of the full demolition plan, includes removing the two iconic red-and-white striped smokestacks using a remote device that was attached to the smokestacks, removing the structures piece by piece. The project has been ongoing for the past several months, but the company said it expects it to be completed in the upcoming weeks.
As part of an overall effort to retire coal ash operations at the Sutton Plant, Duke Energy is continuing to move ash from the Sutton Plant to a fully lined structural fill at the Brickhaven mine site in central North Carolina.
In January they constructed a nearly two-mile long rail line into the mine site, where the company shifted to moving the majority of ash from the plant by rail to expedite the process and minimize the impact to the local community. Crews have excavated around 200,000 tons of coal ash from the Sutton Plant site. Permitting is also underway to constructing a fully lined landfill on Sutton plant property, which will store the majority of the ash from the basins, Duke Energy said.
