Elk Station Unit 1 reached commercial operation one year after its groundbreaking in June 2014. With its new generation of combustion turbine technology, the GE 7F.05 natural gas-fired combustion turbine at Antelope Elk Energy Center (AEEC) was identified by GE as a “fleet leader” because it was the first of its class to reach commercial operation in the country using natural gas.
The Combustion Turbine showcases GE’s advanced combustion system, which operates at lower emission rates than previous models of the 7F fleet. This unit has exceeded performance expectations for heat rate, output and emissions. In addition, the combustion turbine incorporated GE’s new fast start feature allowing the unit to reach full load in just over 10 minutes. It has GE’s peak firing capability which allows the unit to operate at a higher firing temperature to achieve an additional 3+ MW if needed.
In March 2015, Golden Spread began construction on two new combustion turbine generators at AEEC. Elk 2&3 reached substantial completion on May 10, 2016 and after several weeks of testing and demonstrating operations capability to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) the units were scheduled for commercial operation in June 2016. This phase of additional electrical generation included an expansion of the existing AEEC control building complex.
As part of the project, Golden Spread installed grid-switching equipment to allow two of the Elk Station units and the Antelope Station units to supply electricity to either ERCOT or the Southwest Power Pool (SPP). Power from AEEC has added approximately 740 MW of new thermal generation connecting ERCOT’s Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) transmission system. The power generating facility at AEEC now has 550 MW capable of connecting with two regional transmission grids and a total net plant generating capability of 740 MW. This arrangement provides added flexibility for generation to our Members in both grids as loads and markets dictate.
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