GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — After using coal for more than 100 years, Georgia-Pacific will shut down the last coal-fired boiler at its Green Bay Broadway mill next week.
This comes after a second natural gas boiler became fully operational in September.
The company invested nearly $27 million to purchase and install the boiler, which produces steam for process use and power generation at the mill. The mill’s first natural gas boiler was installed in 2015, which replaced the facility’s largest coal-fired boiler, helping the mill reduce air emissions, meet future regulations, and modernize its assets.
Before the natural gas boilers were installed at the facility, it historically used approximately 234,000 tons of coal and 110,000 tons of petroleum coke each year. Any coal remaining after the coal-fired boiler is shut down next week will be sold.
After the first natural gas boiler started up in late-2015, the mill’s emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) dropped by nearly 80% and nitrous oxide (NOx) dropped by 67% compared to 2013 levels.
Over the next two years, Georgia-Pacific is also scheduled to spend more than $14 million to take down and remove coal-handling systems, coal boilers and other obsolete equipment and buildings.
