SARGEANT – The giant Great River Energy 438-megawatt natural gas-fired power generation facility in Pleasant Valley Township is due to go on line soon.

Thursday, May 31, 2001

SARGEANT – The giant Great River Energy 438-megawatt natural gas-fired power generation facility in Pleasant Valley Township is due to go on line soon.

Construction began a year ago and it could be ready for commercial operations later this spring.

The facility will provide peaking power to Great River Energy’s 29 member cooperatives beginning later this summer.

The facility consists of three simple-cycle combustion turbines. The primary fuel for the facility will be natural gas chosen for its low air emission and ready availability. The fuel will be delivered to the site via the Northern Natural Gas pipeline.

A backup fuel oil supply will be installed on site in case of interruption in the natural gas supply.

The facility sits near the middle of a 160-acre parcel of land acquired by GRE.

Once it is up and running, it will be operated as a peaking plant only. The combustion turbines will be operated normally only during the times of peak electrical demand, when periods of extreme temperatures – cold or hot – exist.

A 161-kilovolt transmission line will connect the peaking plant to an existing substation facility owned by Austin Utilities in northeast Austin.

The line also will provided a link between an existing Northern States Power transmission line and the Austin Utilities northeast substation, which will add an additional source of electricity capacity and improve electrical reliability in the Austin area.

GRE paid Mower County $2.5 million for the privilege of doing business in the county.

In return, the county endorsed the GRE application for a personal property tax exemption from the Minnesota Legislature.

The Pleasant Valley Station will cost $160 million.

The entire project is slated to be finished late this summer or early fall.

Call Lee Bonorden at 434-2232 or e-mail him at lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com.