JEA Northside Generating Station in Jacksonville, Florida is a major power plant, one of the three power plants owned and operated by JEA, Jacksonville's municipal utilities service. It produces electricity by burning coal and petroleum coke at Units 1 and 2, formerly the largest circulating fluidized-bed combustors, (CFBs), in the world. These combustors, completed in 2002 and rated at 297.5 megawatts each, produce enough electricity to light more than 250,000 households. In addition, Unit ST3 produces 505 megawatts of electricity by burning residual fuel oil and/or natural gas. Location The Northside Generating Station is located north-east of the interchange of Interstate 295 and State Road 105 in the city of Jacksonville, Florida. It is from the Atlantic Ocean coastline, on the north bank of a back channel of the St. Johns River, which is being used as a waterway for fuel delivery as well as a source of cooling water. The Northside Generating Station also borders Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve that consists of North Florida wetlands and contains historic sites of Timucua peoples. History The Northside Generating Station began producing electricity for Jacksonville in March, 1966 with oil as its only fuel, when former Unit 1, rated at 275 megawatts, was installed. In June, 1972 a similar Unit 2 was launched, but had to be shut down in 1983 due to major boiler problems. A plant expansion in 1977 added a 564-megawatt Unit 3, which is still in operation today. This expansion enabled the use of oil and natural gas fuels. In 1996, JEA committed to reduce certain pollutants from the Northside Station by at least 10% when it upgraded Unit 2 (non-functional at the time) and Unit 1 by introducing the new clean coal technology. This most recent upgrade was funded by JEA (234 million USD) and the U.S. Department of Energy (75 million USD). Initial synchronization was achieved for Unit 2 on February 19, 2002, and for Unit 1 on May 29, 2002. As a result, the facility generates significantly more power now. CFB Technology CFB technology is an advanced method for burning coal and other fuels efficiently while removing air emissions inside the sophisticated combustor system. CFB technology provides flexibility in utility operations because a wide variety of solid fuels can be used, including high-sulfur, high-ash coal and petroleum coke. In a CFB combustor, coal or other fuels, air, and crushed limestone or other sorbents are