Energy: Twin Gas-Turbines Will Run Electric Generator
ESCONDIDO , By the end of September, Escondido will have a new power plant on line with enough juice to power about 50,000 homes locally.
The CalPeak Enterprise No. 7 Project is a 49.5 megawatt “peaking” electricity generation facility currently under construction along North Enterprise Street, near Vineyard Street. It should be producing electricity no later than Sept. 30, 2001, said Mary Ann Costmagna, spokeswoman for the California Energy Commission.
The Escondido project was approved under a special program by the commission. Gov. Gray Davis granted the commission emergency authority to approve smaller plants that can be online by the end of September, Costmagna said.
As a qualifying project, the Escondido facility received fast-track approval from commissioners. The power plant was approved within 21 days, in accordance with the governor’s emergency orders, said Lisa Gomez, spokeswoman for CalPeak Power, the San Diego-based subsidiary of United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn.
Final approval came June 6. During the 21-day period, the plant went through an environmental review, a hearing in Escondido, and a final hearing before the commission in Sacramento, she said.
Construction began June 19. The plans call for two gas-turbine engines connected to a single generator, said Glen Sampson, project manager with CalPeak Power.
Peaking Power
The generator will provide peaking power, or additional electricity when the California Independent System Operator calls for more energy during times of peak demand. Unlike larger generators, which take a long time to start up, the Escondido plant can be up and running on very short notice , within 15 minutes, Sampson said.
Initially, the plant may see heavy use to meet the state’s high demand for electricity. The plant is licensed for round-the-clock operation, he said.
However, once more generation facilities are built and on line throughout California, the Escondido facility would run a projected 500 to 800 hours a year, Sampson said.
The facility would take up about 60,000 square feet in a planned industrial park. San Diego-based Sempra Energy is considering a full-sized power plant nearby, he said.
The facility will cost about $30 million, including land acquisition and other costs, Sampson said.
Four More Peakers Being Built
So far, throughout the state, there have been 11 peaker facilities approved, totaling 876.9 megawatts. Another four peaker plants are under consideration, which if approved could provide 392 additional megawatts, Costmanga said.
The CalPeak facility is not the only peaking plant currently in the works for San Diego County. The commission has already approved a 62-megawatt facility, proposed by Ramco, Inc. for Chula Vista, she said.
Michael Shames, executive director of the Utility Consumers’ Action Network, expressed concerns about peaker plants. Peakers may not be subject to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission price caps, and charge whatever the market will bear, he said.
On the other hand, peakers might not do well in today’s uncertain energy market since the cost-effectiveness of a peaking unit requires more certainty about consumption patterns , and that certainty isn’t there, Shames said.
These assumptions include the hope that the state will commit to a minimum amount of purchases from that plant, and also that the plant can be moved to another location that needs them if peaking demand doesn’t materialize, Shames said.
“As I understand it, a large percentage of these plants will end up losing money and moving. So peaking economics right now is up there with Las Vegas gambling economics , it is pretty risky and most large players don’t take those risks,” he said.
