POWER October 2019 - 20

TOP PLANT
Work Ethic Leads to
'World Class' Performance
Courtesy: Wolverine Power Cooperative
Wolverine Power Cooperative's Alpine plant in Michigan has impressive operating
numbers, and a culture of teamwork dedicated to maintaining efficiency.
Darrell Proctor
P
ower plant operators will tell you
it takes a team effort to run a successful
generation facility. It's no
secret that the most-efficient and mostdependable
plants have a culture built
around a " can do " attitude, with workers
moving toward a common goal of
providing reliable power to the areas
they serve.
Wolverine Power Cooperative, based
in Cadillac, Michigan, and serving members
in Michigan's lower peninsula, has
made teamwork part of its culture. That
culture is evident at Wolverine's Alpine
Power Plant, a 432-MW gas-fired station
recognized as one of the state's mostefficient
generation facilities.
" Alpine Power Plant's greatest asset
is the group of employees who are
committed to serving their members, "
Dan Calverley, vice president of generation
for Wolverine, told POWER. " They
demonstrate shared vision, expertise,
ingenuity, and pride in their drive to continuously
provide world-class and recordsetting
performance. "
The Alpine plant is the state's largest
generating station north of Midland,
including the state's Upper Peninsula,
where WEC Energy Group subsidiary
Upper Michigan Energy Resources began
operating two small gas-fired plants
earlier this year. Calverley said with the
plant's net heat rate of 9,100 Btu/kWh
(lower heating value, or LHV), " Alpine
also happens to be the most efficient
20
generator north of Midland. "
The plant's performance metrics,
which include what Calverley called " an
industry-leading and unprecedented 337
combined starts in 2018, " make it a worthy
recipient of a POWER Top Plant award.
But Alpine is more than just its numbers.
" You would have to look far and wide
to find another team [Figure 1] that could
compare to the exceptional commitment
and work ethic [our employees] bring to
Wolverine, " Calverley said. " They have an
unending thirst for knowledge and take
pride in their facility. It's only through
their efforts and dedication that Alpine is
the plant it is. "
Largest Gas Plant in
Wolverine's Portfolio
The Alpine plant, located in Elmira
Township in Ostego County between
the towns of Elmira and Gaylord, supports
the energy needs of Wolverine
members Cherryland Electric Cooperative,
Great Lakes Energy Cooperative,
HomeWorks Tri-County Electric Cooperative,
Midwest Energy & Communications,
and Presque Isle Electric and
Gas Cooperative, along with Wolverine
Power Marketing Cooperative and Spartan
Renewable Energy.
Alpine is the largest of Wolverine's seven
gas-fired peaker power plants across
Michigan, which together can produce
about 1 GW of electricity. Wolverine also
has hydro and solar power resources, in
addition to fractional interests in three
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coal-fired power plants in Michigan, Indiana,
and Ohio. Wolverine also has 200
MW of wind power, produced at two
wind farms in Huron County, Michigan.
Today, Wolverine and its members lead
all Michigan utilities with the highest percentage
of new renewable energy with
20% in its portfolio.
Though it's located in a rural area-
something that can be said of most everything
in northern Michigan-Alpine
has an optimal location for a gas-fired
plant, as its sits at the intersection of a
TransCanada pipeline that carries natural
gas across the state, and vital electrical
transmission arteries.
" We spent three years studying our
options before firming up a plan " for
the Alpine plant, Eric Baker, Wolverine
president and CEO, said in 2018 after the
plant was brought online. " The location
we picked in Elmira Township is right on
top of two natural gas lines and near the
transmission needed to move the power
onto the grid. The technology meets our
key strategic issues of flexibility and a
clean environmental footprint, and gives
us the option of converting to combined
cycle down the road. "
Construction of Alpine began in April
2015 and was completed just 14 months
later, in June 2016. Baker, at the time,
said, " I want to reiterate my praise for the
Wolverine employees. Power plant chiefs,
operators, engineers, and technicians
across Wolverine's system contributed
essential skills and knowledge to bring us
POWER | October 2019
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POWER October 2019

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