Accommodating Susitna hydropower
Asked how they would reconcile investments in new gas-fired power generation capacity with the possible future availability of power from a proposed major new hydropower system on the Susitna River, Southcentral electric utility officials told the Anchorage Energy Task Force on March 15 that they support the Susitna hydro proposal and will adjust to the use of Susitna hydropower as necessary. It is a question of allowing room for Susitna power, to accommodate the possibility of that power becoming available, said Lee Thibert, senior vice president of Chugach Electric Association.
Anchorage electric utilities Chugach Electric Association and Municipal Light & Power are already building a new, large gas-fired power plant, planned for startup in south Anchorage in 2012.
The new gas-fired plant will meet 50 percent of CEA’s base-load needs for the foreseeable future, Thibert said. The existing Beluga plant will supply much of utility’s remaining power needs, he said.
If the Susitna hydropower plant comes to fruition, power from that plant will replace power from Beluga, with CEA’s stable base load being filled by power from Susitna; the new gas-fired power plant would then be used to meet the more variable peaking demand. Essentially the role of the gas-fired plant would change and the plant has been designed to accommodate that change, Thibert said.
By using the relatively inefficient Beluga plant before new hydropower comes on line, CEA will incur relatively high fuel costs, although there is no outstanding capital cost for the aging Beluga plant, Thibert said.
—Alan Bailey
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