Colorado Utility Taps GE for Gas Turbines
US engineering giant GE Gas and Power said February 10 it had been chosen to supply six of its advanced LM2500XPRESS™ aeroderivative gas turbine packages to help Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) move away from reliance on coal-fired generation.
The units, each rated at 34-MW, are the first of their kind to be installed in North America and will start commercial operation by the summer of 2022. CSU will use the modular and transportable units to provide power to downtown Colorado Springs while a new transmission line is completed in 2025.
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“The LM2500XPRESS™ units were purchased to provide safe, affordable and reliable generation to support the increased use of renewable solar and wind power,” CSU CEO Aram Benyamin said. “These natural gas units will help us better integrate renewable energy sources, further reduce CO2 emissions, and accelerate the retirement of the Martin Drake Power Plant.”
Aligning with Colorado’s goals to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, power generation and other sources, CSU is committed to retiring the coal-fired Martin Drake plant by the end of 2022, 12 years earlier than previously planned.
Using the GE technology will give CSU the flexibility needed to bring more renewables into their system and help them on their path to reducing carbon emissions by at least 80% from 2005 levels by 2030.
The power generators are 95% factory assembled into modules that can be installed in less than three weeks. They are also easily moved on trailers and will eventually be relocated by CSU to other sites in the Colorado Springs area.
Despite the persistently low gas price, coal is forecast to generate almost two thirds of the amount of electricity that gas will generate this year and next (about 840bn KWh compared with 1.4 trillion kWh), according to the US Energy Information Administration.