NRG announces completion of Joliet project

JOLIET – NRG Energy has completed the conversion of its Joliet Generating Station from coal to natural gas.

The New Jersey-based company this week announced the completion of four coal-to-gas projects in the United States, including Joliet.

The Joliet conversion was completed sometime this fall, NRG spokesman David Gaier said.

The station contains three units that produce 1,326 megawatts of power, enough to supply more than 1 million households, according to an NRG news release.

“It’s part of our fleet optimization strategy and part of our strategy to reduce our carbon footprint,” Gaier said.

The conversion of the Joliet plant, located at Route 6 and Larkin Avenue, and the closing of one of NRG's two coal-powered units at its Will County Generating Station in Romeoville, were announced in August 2014.

The coal unit at the Romeoville station was shut down in 2015.

The changes have also led to the reduction of jobs at the two stations.

The Joliet workforce was reduced from 151 to 56 because fewer workers are needed to run a gas-powered plant. Thirty-seven Joliet employees moved to other jobs at NRG plants in Illinois, Gaier said.

The workforce at the Will County station was reduced from 116 to 70 with the closing of the one unit. NRG continues to operate one coal-powered unit in Romeoville.

The NRG announcement on Monday focused on the coal-to-gas projects’ contribution to company efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

“Driven by the economics of power generation, we modified units at four plants to switch from burning coal to natural gas, significantly reducing greenhouse gas and other emissions, while maintaining reliability in the system,” NRG Chief Executive Officer Maurico Gutierrez said in the news release.

The modified units at Joliet and the three other stations together generate more than 2,780 megawatts of power, or enough to supply more than 2 million average homes, according to the news release.

The other converted stations are in New Roads, Louisiana; Shawville, Pennsylvania; and New Castle, Pennsylvania.