Wärtsilä Engines Used for 225 MW Power Plant in Texas

[thackney]

Wärtsilä Engines Used for 225 MW Power Plant in Texas
http://www.power-eng.com/articles/2016/09/w-rtsil-engines-used-for-225-mw-power-plant-in-texas.html?cmpid=enl-poe-weekly-september-23-2016&cmpid=enl_PE_Weekly_2016-09-23&eid=294715858&bid=1537008
Sep 21, 2016

Wärtsilä has agreed to provide 12 natural gas-fired engines for a new 225-MW power plant in Denton, Texas.

The Denton Energy Center, which will use 18-cylinder Wärtsilä gas-fired engines, will provide Denton Municipal Electric balancing power for a citywide system that will be getting 70 percent of its power from renewable resources by 2019.

The equipment included in the $111 million order will be delivered to Denton in the second half of 2017. The plant is expected to begin commercial production in July 2018.

In 2011, the City of Denton was recognized by the American Public Power Association with the Wind Power Award for getting 40 percent of its power from wind resources. The city later established a plan to get 70 percent of its power from renewable resources by 2019.

Reciprocating engines are becoming increasingly popular for utility-scale power projects. The intermittent nature of renewable generation, low-priced natural gas and advancements in engine technology and flexibility have given reciprocating engines new life in the U.S. as a competitive form of reliable generation.

Able to reach full power in just minutes, gas-engine power plants can offset sudden losses in wind and solar power, helping grid managers bring balance to the grid quickly.

“The ability of the plant to quickly start and stop is just one of the many reasons why we chose the Wärtsilä technology over gas turbines,” said Mike Grim, executive manager at Denton Municipal Electric. “In addition to enabling our growth in renewables, Wärtsilä can quickly deliver power generation with very low emissions, which is something that the citizens of Denton highly value.”

[thackney]

Denton faces $240 million question
http://www.dentonrc.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20160611-denton-faces-240-million-question.ece
 11 June 2016

...Right now, Denton ratepayers fork over about 10 cents for every kilowatt-hour of electricity they use. By 2019, that’s expected to climb to 10.75 cents. (Texans paid an average of 12.59 cents in 2014.)

In other words, the average electric bill for Denton households is about $150 per month today and will likely reach $161 in 2019.

DME expects the average monthly bill to hover at about $160-plus through the 2020s — if the utility can buy the gas-powered engines to generate power.

But this proposed big-ticket purchase has proven controversial. Activists have submitted more than 600 letters to the City Council opposing the engines. They want DME to buy only renewable energy, as much as possible and as soon as possible.

DME officials have said they could do that. They’ve got renewable energy contracts with more in the works. The utility estimates that going to 100 percent renewable would push the average monthly bill to $176 (or about 12.25 cents per kilowatt-hour) by 2019.

Yet, that also would be the high point for local rates, DME says. After 2019, the rate for 100 percent renewable energy would drop.

In other words, through the 2020s, electric rates for the no-engine plan would be a little higher than the go-engine plan.

It seems counterintuitive, but DME says to save about $7 a month for the average ratepayer, it has got to spend $240 million on a dozen engines....

[Smokin Joe]

Well, at $84 a year in savings, there must be a lot of ratepayers. This assumes long term stability in natural gas prices, too.

[geronl]

Of course, I oppose government-owned utilities