POWER September 2017 - 28

TOP PLANTS
Model of Gas-Fired Efficiency
Rises in Heart of Coal Country
Courtesy: Kiewit
A partnership between one of the nation's largest utilities and one of the world's
largest construction contractors resulted in the 1,100-MW Paradise Combined Cycle
Plant in Drakesboro, Kentucky, next door to what has long been the state's largest
power plant.
Darrell Proctor
T
he project began as an idea spurred
by government regulation: replace
two units of an aging coal-fired power
plant on a winding Kentucky river with a
state-of-the-art combined cycle facility. The
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) had done
it previously, in neighboring Tennessee, and
was looking for similar success the second
time around.
There would be challenges. Government
regulations had been updated; the deadline
to meet some emissions targets, the impetus
behind the project, meant even the generation
set-up would be reconsidered. Construction
would have a tight timeline to meet those
government mandates. Teamwork would be
essential; delays would put the entire project
at risk. And this is Kentucky, where more
than 80% of the state's electricity comes
from coal.
TVA went to work, partnering with Kiewit
Power, to build the $1 billion Paradise Combined
Cycle Plant, near Drakesboro and the former
mining town of Paradise along the Green
River. In a state better known for bluegrass,
bourbon, and thoroughbreds, the two have
completed what now is considered the mostefficient
gas plant in TVA's vast fleet, one being
honored as a POWER Top Plant for 2017.
28
" The project was a huge success, " Roger
Waldrep, TVA's general manager for major
projects, told POWER. " It demonstrates
what can be accomplished by partnerships,
teamwork, and the relentless pursuit of risk
management and mitigation. The project
was much more than a 3 x 1 combined cycle
plant. This was a gas plant that would be built
in the heart of coal country and would be responsible
for carrying the legacy of TVA forward
in the region. "
Expanding Fuel Diversity
The 1,100-MW Paradise plant, completed
in April 2017, is part of TVA's commitment
to expand the utility's fuel diversity.
It is designed to partly replace the coal-fired
Paradise Fossil Plant, which came online in
1963 and has been the state's largest power
generation facility, distinctive with its three
large, natural-draft cooling towers, a feature
many people associate with nuclear power
plants. Units 1 and 2 of the Fossil Plant,
each with a generation capacity of 704 MW,
were retired earlier this year. The 1,150MW
Unit 3, which began operating in 1970,
will remain online.
The contract for the new plant was
awarded in May 2014, the air permit was
www.powermag.com
received in February 2015, and construction
began March 2, 2015. Combustion
gas turbine (CTG) delivery occurred in
June 2015; heat recovery steam generator
(HRSG) delivery followed in August 2015;
and the generator step-up unit arrived
in March 2016 (Figure 1). The turbines
were first fired in October 2016, about six
months before the plant began commercial
operation on April 7 of this year.
Kiewit and TVA had worked together previously
on the John Sevier Combined Cycle
Plant in Rogersville, Tenn., which has been
operating since late April 2012. That plant
replaced the coal-fired John Sevier Fossil
Plant. Kiewit completed the construction
scope of work on that project, but for Paradise,
Kiewit was a partner from the start.
" This project was the first partnership
for TVA and Kiewit Power with Kiewit
Power in a full EPC [engineering, procurement,
and construction] role, " said
Waldrep. " A lot of time was spent at the
beginning with TVA learning how Kiewit
performed their work, and Kiewit learning
the expectations and requirements of
TVA. This proved invaluable as the project
progressed and risks and rework were
avoided, " key reasons, said Waldrep, why
POWER | September 2017
http://www.powermag.com
POWER September 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER September 2017
