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Golden Valley Electric plans new power plant next to Williams refinery
Patricia Jones PNA Contributing Writer
To supplement aging power generation facilities in Interior Alaska and to keep up with an expected increase in electric demand, Golden Valley Electric Association is making plans to construct a new 57-megawatt gas turbine power plant in North Pole.
The new facility, which will burn a low-sulfur content fuel called naphtha, will be adjacent to an existing Golden Valley gas-fired power plant within the security fence at the Williams Refinery in North Pole.
Kate Lamal, vice president of power supply, described plans for the new power plant in an interview with Petroleum News Alaska March 17. At that time, the Fairbanks-based electric supplier anticipated receiving a draft of preliminary engineering design, to be completed by NANA/Colt, by the end of March.
“We have a few more things we have to finish up before the project is an absolute go, but it is the preferred option at this time,” Lamal said.
Golden Valley still has to secure an air quality permit for the new plant, and receive board approval for the construction project. Lamal said construction bids should go out later this year, with hopes that construction can be completed by the end of 2005.
Golden Valley put a construction bid out last fall for the same power plant, Lamal said, although the scope was too broad. “The risks were not well defined enough,” she said. “We decided to step back and make sure we take some of the uncertainties away, hoping to get better cost estimates.” Cost estimated at $60-$65 million Now estimated to cost between $60 million and $65 million to build, Golden Valley can use financing through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utility System for the new power plant, Lamal said.
Given board approval, the new North Pole plant will be built regardless of what happens in ongoing negotiations about use of the state and federally funded Healy clean coal project, said Golden Valley President Steve Haageson.
“We’ll run them both,” he said. “One will be more expensive than the other, but they are the right numbers to make our system work. The 110 megawatts of generation is something that we can use in our system.”
Golden Valley has been in discussions with the Healy clean coal project's owner, the Alaska Industrial and Export Development Authority, to work out a method of operating the now-shuttered, coal-fired 50 megawatt power plant, Haagenson said.
“Things in my opinion are looking up,” Haageson said. “I think there is a way to make things happen right there.”
Electric demand increases Industrial-sized projects and a steady growth in residential power demand caused Golden Valley managers to start planning for additional electric generation in Interior Alaska, Lamal said.
“We have done power requirement studies every couple of years … and seen steady growth of 1.5 to 2.5 percent each year,” she said.
Commercial projects that will likely add to Golden Valley’s power demand include the Pogo gold mine project about 40 miles northeast of Delta Junction, development of the national missile defense system at Fort Greeley, a possible increase in Fort Wainwright troops and the potential for electrification of some of the pump stations on the trans-Alaska pipeline.
“Where pump stations are near a grid, it appears it is cheaper for them to connect to the grid and run by electricity,” Lamal said. Those and other potential projects are “expected to increase GVEA’s system power demand by over 30 megawatts within the next three to five years,” said the company’s website. Existing infrastructure aging Most of the power generation facilities in Interior Alaska are aging, Lamal said.
“As so much of this state was built up during the pipeline heyday, all of the infrastructure is all 25 or 30 years old,” she said.
The new North Pole plant will burn naphtha, a fuel that contains less sulfur than heavy atmospheric gas oil, Lamal said.
“We will be using water injection to control the nitrogen oxides,” she said. “We will use a carbon monoxide catalyst — basically a big filter on the exhaust … to reduce emissions of carbon monoxide.”
By running the new plant as the primary power source, with the old plant used as a backup and as a peak load supply, emissions should be less than currently allowed under Golden Valley’s air quality permit, Lamal said.
The new plant is also being designed to utilize exhaust heat for additional power. Exhaust heat from the 43 megawatt naphtha-fired gas turbine will be fed into a steam turbine, which will generate additional electricity.
The new North Pole plant is being designed to burn natural gas, should that fuel supply become available in Fairbanks, according to the utility's website.
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