Air quality plan approval granted by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The Department of Environmental Protection approved an air quality plan approval for Moxie Freedom Energy LLC of Virginia to construct and operate a 1050-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant in Salem Township, Luzerne County.

The approval was granted by DEP’s Air Quality Program on Sept. 1.

“The application received a thorough review by the department and we determined that Moxie’s proposal satisfies applicable emissions control requirements, including use of Best Available Control Technology and Lowest Achievable Emission Rate,” Mike Bedrin, director of DEP’s Northeast Regional Office in Wilkes-Barre, said. “This plant will also have emissions testing, record-keeping and continuous emission monitoring requirements to assist DEP in monitoring emissions from the facility to help ensure compliance.”

Moxie Freedom submitted an air quality plan approval application to DEP on Oct. 6, 2014. The company plans to utilize a combustion gas turbine and a steam turbine to produce electricity. Each combined turbine and a duct burner will exclusively fire pipeline-quality natural gas. The burners will be equipped with selective catalytic reduction to minimize nitrogen oxide emissions and oxidation catalysts to minimize carbon monoxide and volatile organic compound emissions. The project will be capable of producing 1050 megawatts of electricity, which will then be distributed to the power grid for use.