pwr_october-2024 - 26

TOP PLANT
Ohio Facility Supports PJM
Power Supply in Heart of
Major Shale Plays
Courtesy: GE Vernova
Caithness Energy's Guernsey Power Station, which features GE Vernova equipment,
is an important gas-fired facility helping replace retired coal-fired generation in the
PJM Interconnection territory.
Darrell Proctor
O
fficials with the PJM Interconnection,
the regional transmission
organization serving 13 states
including Ohio, last year warned that
power plant retirements in that territory
could lead to power shortfalls. That led to
much hand-wringing among regulators
and policymakers, as officials expressed
concern about how to bring new generation
capacity online fast enough to avoid
that situation.
One answer was to add new natural
gas-fired generation. The PJM territory
includes major shale gas plays, such
as the Marcellus and Utica, providing a
ready-made supply of feedstock for gasfired
power plants. Officials noted an
important consideration for new power
stations would be utilizing the latest,
most-efficient technology, in order to
satisfy not only power demand but also
meet environmental regulations.
Enter the 1,875-MW Guernsey Power
Station, located in Guernsey County in
southeastern Ohio. The plant was built
on property that included an existing 42inch
Rockies Express Pipeline and AEP's
Kammer-Vassell 765-kV transmission
line. The plant, operated by Caithness Energy,
a privately held independent power
producer based in New Jersey, came
online in June of last year and immediately
became a model for how the PJM
can add capacity to meet the expected
26
increase in power demand in the region.
Officials said Guernsey, along with
other planned electricity projects, could
help alleviate concerns about resource
adequacy and grid stability across PJM.
The plant features advanced technology,
including three GE Vernova 7HA.02 gas
turbines (Figure 1) in a single-shaft combined
cycle configuration. Officials said
it's the largest set-up of this kind at a U.S.
gas-fired power plant.
" Caithness is proud to deliver this
state-of-the-art electric generating solution
to provide energy and capacity to
the PJM market, " said Ross Ain, Caithness
Energy's president, at a ceremony
marking commercial operation of the
Guernsey plant. " Our project is cleaner
and more efficient than older plants. It
will provide reliable energy with minimal
impact on the environment by utilizing
a significantly more efficient technology
to produce energy, thereby significantly
lowering carbon and other emissions
compared to older plants and utilizing a
dry cooling system that reduces water
use by 95% compared to older facilities. "
Ain noted that as recently as 2022,
closures of coal-fired power plants accounted
for nearly 90% of the plant retirements
in the PJM. Ain said " as more
and more coal-fired plants are retired,
the need for thermal resources, and
the essential reliable and flexible power
they provide, is crucial for grid stabilwww.powermag.com
ity
and to help meet the increasing demand
for power. "
$1.6 Billion in Financing
Caithness Energy and Florida-based
Apex Power Group secured $1.6 billion
in financing for the project from
Investec Bank, BlackRock, and AMP
Capital in September 2019. The Guernsey
plant was built by Connecticutbased
Gemma Power Systems, an
engineering, procurement, and construction
company, and a wholly owned
subsidiary of Maryland-headquartered
Argan, along with several subcontractors
from Ohio and elsewhere.
Officials said that in addition to the
typical challenges that all large construction
projects face, the Guernsey Power
Station was built over abandoned room
and pillar coal mines that were required
to be filled in prior to constructing the facility.
In addition, construction of the project
occurred during the global COVID-19
pandemic, which impacted manpower
and resulted in significant supply chain
challenges. Officials said all the challenges
were overcome with a minimal overall
impact to project completion.
William F. Griffin Jr., CEO of Gemma,
in a statement said, " We are thrilled
to have the opportunity to help deliver
clean, reliable energy to Guernsey County
and the greater Ohio community. "
The GE Vernova turbines at GuernPOWER
| October 2024
http://www.powermag.com
pwr_october-2024

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