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Five
Cat G16CM34 natural-gas engines will help the town of Geneva, Ill. control its
energy destiny.
The
town of Geneva, Ill., will soon
experience
cost savings during peak
power
periods with the help of five
Caterpillar®
G16CM34 engines/generator
sets. Leaders in the town approximately
40 miles west of Chicago,
have
selected the Cat natural-gas-fired
reciprocating
engines to power their
community
during times of peak power usage.
“The
decision to build a generation plant
was
a solid, soundly based economic plan to
help
us mitigate future power costs,” explains
Jim Greever, electric superintendent for the
Geneva
project.
TEAMWORK
FUELS SUCCESS
Geneva’s
desire to improve its power
position
was fulfilled by Cat dealer Altorfer
Power
Systems, East Peoria, Ill., in
conjunction
with general contractor HWS
Energy
Partners, an Illinois-based power
plant
developer.
-
Fall/Winter 2003, Electric Power News, Caterpillar
Users Want
More Control Over Reliability and Cost of Power
With
a population of 22,000 people, Geneva, Ill., is a typical Midwestern suburb. But
inside city hall, officials are clamoring for more power–the electrical
kind–and they have succeeded. Geneva is building a 29-Mw, natural-gas-fired
plant that planners hope will bring energy independence to residents and
businesses.
Users hit hard
by today’s erratic cost of transmitted energy are showing noticeable interest
in meeting peak power needs with distributed generation (ENR 4/9/01 p. 44). But
economics is not the only reason. Despite the high up-front investment, these
pocket powerplants sited near the demand may gain even more popularity as users
evaluate the need for reliable, local power during mass outages, such as the
grid meltdown the Northeast experienced on Aug. 14.
The U.S.
derives 10% of its current electrical capacity from distributed generation,
totaling about 60 Gw, according to John Kelly, director of Gas Technology
Institute’s Distributed Energy Technology Center, Des Plaines, Ill. Kelly
estimates the market has a 100 Gw potential by 2012, the bulk of which is likely
to be be in and near urban areas.
Geneva fits
the bill, located about 40 miles directly west of Chicago. "I think DG has
more people looking into it," says Joseph Summers, vice president of HWS
Energy Partners and president of Industrial Technology Group. Geneva hired the
Champaign, Ill.-based firms for construction management and electrical
engineering services, respectively, for its $17-million facility, which Summers
says is 75% completed. The 10,000-sq-ft powerplant will house five 5.9-Mw
generators powered by natural-gas-fired reciprocating engines. Costing $11
million, the 8,000-hp Caterpillar engines are 40 ft long, 15 ft tall and 10 ft
wide. The city estimates the plant will help save $177 million in peak energy
costs over 40 years.
- Tudor
Hampton, 8/25/2003, Engineering News-Record, The McGraw-Hill Companies
Caterpillar Helps Geneva, Illinois
Move Towards Energy Independence
PEORIA, IL. – Five Cat® G16CM34
engines will be providing power to a new 29 MW, gas fired, electrical power
plant in Geneva, Illinois. The sale of the natural
gas engines will be the first installation of the G16CM34 engine in the United
States. The city of Geneva will own and operate the natural gas powered
plant to generate electricity during peak electric demand periods. Using natural
gas as the
fuel of choice will allow the plant to offer clean, efficient, reliable power at
a reasonable cost to the city. The G16CM34 engine provides 5.9 MW of electricity
per engine and a greater than 45% world-class efficiency, enabling the city to
control their electricity costs, and maintain some of the lowest electric rates
in the state of Illinois.
HWS Energy Partners LLC
of Champaign, Illinois developed the project with the city of Geneva.
Industrial Technology Group Inc., also of Champaign, will manage the project and
provide design engineering. The plant is scheduled to open in January 2004.
- 3/21/2003, Caterpillar
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