LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Westar Energy has temporarily shut down a unit that generates more than half of the Lawrence Energy Center’s power to make environmental upgrades.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the work is part of a $325 million effort that started in 2009 to reduce the amount of pollutants coming from the plant.
This spring, the utility entered into the heart of the work at Unit 5, which typically generates 64 percent of the plant’s 585 megawatts of electricity. Crews are working to complete the construction before Westar heads into the demanding summer season.
Work on the pollution upgrades is expected to wrap up in 2013. The project is designed to reduce the fine particle, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions coming from two of the plant’s three coal-burning units.
