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GVEA prepares power plant plans for construction bidding
Patricia Jones Petroleum News Contributing Writer
Golden Valley Electric Association, electric power provider in Interior Alaska, plans to put out to bid in late July a design for construction of a 57-megawatt fuel-fired power plant in North Pole.
“We got approval to go out to bid,” Kate Lamal, Golden Valley's vice president of power supply, told Petroleum News June 20. “I don’t see anything that’s a killer in this project, but ultimately it is a board decision whether to make this our next generation project for Golden Valley.”
She anticipates construction bids being returned by the end of September, after which the electric association’s board will make a final decision to proceed with construction, estimated to range from $60 million to $65 million.
Golden Valley recently obtained an air quality permit and resolved a land issue for the North Pole expansion plant, said Steve Haageson, Golden Valley president, but still needs to finalize a fuel supply contract with the Williams Co.-owned refinery in North Pole. Adjacent to existing plant Plans call for the new power plant to be built adjacent to Golden Valley's existing 120-megawatt power plant, located within the security fence at the Williams refinery. For more than a year, Williams has actively been seeking a buyer for its Alaska assets, including the North Pole refinery located near and fed by the trans-Alaska pipeline.
The new power plant will burn about 2,000 barrels a day of naphtha, a low-sulfur fuel, Lamal said. The existing power plant burns HAGO — heavy atmospheric gas oil.
Meanwhile, Golden Valley is continuing talks with the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority in an effort to restart the Healy Clean Coal Plant, an experimental coal-fired 50-megawatt power plant that’s been shuttered since December 1999.
A joint committee, which will address operational issues, is expected to meet in July. Board members from both groups met at the shuttered facility in late May.
Golden Valley plans to proceed with the North Pole expansion project, regardless of the outcome of the Healy Clean Coal Plant. “I don’t think these will be competing projects,” Haageson said. “If they both come on, we’ll use both.”
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