POWER November 2015 - 28

TOP PLANTS
Palo Verde Nuclear Generating
Station, Wintersburg, Arizona
Owners/operator: Arizona Public Service Co. (APS, 29.1%), Salt River Project (17.5%), Southern
California Edison Co. (15.8%), El Paso Electric Co. (15.8%), PNM Resources (10.2%), Southern
California Public Power Authority (5.9%), and the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power
(5.7%) / APS
Courtesy: Arizona Public Service
The nearly 4-GW, three-unit Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station remains the largest
generator of electricity in the U.S. for the 23rd consecutive year, producing more
than 30 million MWh in 2014, for the 10th time (the only plant in the U.S. to do so),
all while using only treated wastewater for cooling.
Dr. Robert Peltier, PE
P
alo Verde Nuclear Generating Station
(Palo Verde), located on 4,000 acres
deep in the Arizona desert about 50
miles west of Phoenix, serves the electricity
needs of approximately four million people
in Arizona (about 35% of its power needs),
Southern California, New Mexico, and far
west Texas. The plant, which began construction
in 1976 and was completed in 1988 at
a cost of $5.9 billion, features three units
with-unlike most nuclear plants-very little
common infrastructure between the units.
Palo Verde has long been the largest U.S.
nuclear power plant as measured by power
generation.
Steam is produced by Combustion Engineering
System 80 pressurized water reactors
in a 2 x 4 configuration-four main reactor
cooling pumps circulate 111,000 gpm of primary
coolant through two steam generators.
The reactors were originally licensed to operate
in 1985, 1986, and 1987, and each was
initially rated at 3,990 MWt. The General
Electric generators remain the largest 60 Hz
generators in worldwide service at a nuclear
power plant.
Since 2005, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) has approved in28
creases
in the net generating capacity of
each unit to 1,311, 1,314, and 1,312 MW,
respectively, as a result of plant upgrades.
Operating license extensions for each of
the three units were approved in 2011, extending
plant operation until 2045, 2046,
and 2047, respectively.
" Our mission is to safely and efficiently
generate electricity for the long term, " said
Randy Edington, executive vice president
and chief nuclear officer for Arizona Public
Service Co. (APS), which operates the plant
for the group of owners (listed at the top).
" We have worked very hard to demonstrate to
the NRC through extensive inspections and
audits that Palo Verde is prepared to operate
for an additional 20 years. "
The plant employs about 3,000 workers
and has an annual economic impact of more
than $1.8 billion in Arizona, according to
APS.
Rising Capacity Factors
Nuclear power plant capacity factors are rising
across the industry. The Nuclear Energy
Institute (NEI) reported that the average capacity
factor of all U.S. nuclear power plants
in June was 96.4%, the highest that it has
www.powermag.com
been in six years (it was 91.7% in 2014). In
fact, 90 of the 99 operating nuclear reactors
averaged 90% or higher, and 62 operated at
100% or higher in June.
According to Platts' Megawatt Daily
June 22 report, in 2014, Palo Verde Unit 3
generated more electricity than any single
unit in the U.S., producing 12.2 million
MWh, exceeded only by EDF's 1,560-MW
Chooz-B2 reactor in France for worldwide
honors. However, Palo Verde's 1,312-MW
Unit 3 posted a higher annual capacity
factor of 97.5%, compared to 94.1% at
Chooz-B2.
Palo Verde Unit 3 continued the plant's
history of outstanding operations by duplicating
Unit 2's achievement the year
before. In 2013, Unit 2 reported a 94.8%
capacity factor, the highest of all plants in
the world top 10 rankings, while Unit 1
was ranked third in the U.S. and seventh
in the world.
Generating large amounts of electricity
has been in the plant's DNA since it began
operation. All three Palo Verde units are
individually ranked among the top six producers
in the U.S., according to industry
data. " We take pride in regularly generatPOWER
| November 2015
http://www.powermag.com

POWER November 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER November 2015

Contents
POWER November 2015 - Cover1
POWER November 2015 - Cover2
POWER November 2015 - Contents
POWER November 2015 - 2
POWER November 2015 - 3
POWER November 2015 - 4
POWER November 2015 - 5
POWER November 2015 - 6
POWER November 2015 - 7
POWER November 2015 - 8
POWER November 2015 - 9
POWER November 2015 - 10
POWER November 2015 - 11
POWER November 2015 - 12
POWER November 2015 - 13
POWER November 2015 - 14
POWER November 2015 - 15
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POWER November 2015 - 17
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POWER November 2015 - Cover3
POWER November 2015 - Cover4
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