What's New
Power Plants Generate Record Power in 2005
Basin Electric's base-load power plants raised the bar another notch in 2005. In their mission to meet rising member demand for electricity, they set a new overall generation record. Two of the three coal-based power plants set individual generation records as well.
Basin Electric's three coal-based power plants - Leland Olds Station, Laramie River Station and Antelope Valley Station - generated a record of 24,278,130 net megawatt-hours (MWh) in 2005. Vern Laning, Basin Electric vice president of plant operations, said the previous record of 24,248,069 MWh was set in 2003. "With our good operations, it gets more and more difficult to set overall records like this, but we beat the old record by 30,061 megawatt-hours," Laning said. (One megawatt-hour will power 20,000 50-watt light bulbs for one hour.)
The two units at Leland Olds Station, near Stanton, N.D., generated a station-record of 4,816,733 net megawatt-hours (MWh) in 2005. Curt Melland, Leland Olds plant manager, said this broke the old record set in 2002 by 239,748 MWh. Unit 2 also set a record of its own by generating 3,168,780 net MWh in 2005. Melland said the previous record of 3,069,301 MWh was set in 2001.
Melland said both records are remarkable accomplishments, considering the age of the facility. Leland Olds was Basin Electric's first power plant. Unit 1 began operating in 1966 and has a generating capacity of 216 megawatts (MW). Unit 2 came on line in 1975 and is rated at 440 MW.
Two of the three Laramie River Station units near Wheatland, Wyo., set generation records in 2005 as well. Dallas Wade, Laramie River plant manager, said Unit 1's annual generation record stood only a year before it was broken. The unit generated 4,451,077 net MWh in 2005, exceeding the previous record by 50,647 MWh. Unit 2 set a new record at 4,720,545 net MWh. The old record of 4,534,480 MWh was set in 2003. Wade said the station as a whole had the second highest annual generation in its history at 13,024,102 MWh. The power plant�s three units each have a rated capacity of 550 MW.
Wade said Unit 2 had an exceptionally good year overall. It logged an availability rate of 99.4 percent. Availability is the total percentage of time a generating unit is available for service. He said the unit's forced-outage rate was also outstanding at 0.06 percent, a record for the unit. The forced-outage rate represents the time a unit was called during the year to generate electricity but was unable to do so. Wade said the station�s 2005 forced outage rate of 1.55 percent was second only to 1986's rate of 1.03 percent.
The Antelope Valley Station performed well in 2005, according to Plant Manager John Jacobs, though no new records were set. He said Unit 2 was close to setting a generation record at 3,519,100 net MWh. This was the second highest ever for the unit, missing the previous record set in 2003 by only 35,011 MWh. Antelope Valley's two 450-MW units are located north of Beulah, N.D.
Basin Electric is a consumer-owned, regional cooperative headquartered in Bismarck, N.D. It generates and transmits electricity to 120 member rural electric systems in nine states: Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. These member systems distribute electricity to about 1.8 million consumers.
Basin Electric's generating resources include two coal-based power plants in North Dakota - the Antelope Valley Station, Beulah, and the Leland Olds Station, Stanton; a coal-based power plant in Wyoming - the Laramie River Station, Wheatland; an oil-based peaking station - the Spirit Mound Station, Vermillion, S.D.; nine combustion-turbine generators (natural gas) in the Gillette, Wyo., area; four wind turbines - two near Minot, N.D., and two near Chamberlain, S.D. Basin Electric purchases the entire output of three wind farms owned and operated by FPL Energy - one near Edgeley/Kulm and one near Wilton in North Dakota, and another near Highmore in South Dakota; and two other 750-kilowatt wind turbines, one located near Pipestone, Minn., and another near Rosebud, S.D.
__________________________________________
For more information about items in this section contact:
Ann Foster
Director of Communications
Ph: (515) 727-8945 or e-mail: afoster@iowarec.org
Basin Electric's three coal-based power plants - Leland Olds Station, Laramie River Station and Antelope Valley Station - generated a record of 24,278,130 net megawatt-hours (MWh) in 2005. Vern Laning, Basin Electric vice president of plant operations, said the previous record of 24,248,069 MWh was set in 2003. "With our good operations, it gets more and more difficult to set overall records like this, but we beat the old record by 30,061 megawatt-hours," Laning said. (One megawatt-hour will power 20,000 50-watt light bulbs for one hour.)
The two units at Leland Olds Station, near Stanton, N.D., generated a station-record of 4,816,733 net megawatt-hours (MWh) in 2005. Curt Melland, Leland Olds plant manager, said this broke the old record set in 2002 by 239,748 MWh. Unit 2 also set a record of its own by generating 3,168,780 net MWh in 2005. Melland said the previous record of 3,069,301 MWh was set in 2001.
Melland said both records are remarkable accomplishments, considering the age of the facility. Leland Olds was Basin Electric's first power plant. Unit 1 began operating in 1966 and has a generating capacity of 216 megawatts (MW). Unit 2 came on line in 1975 and is rated at 440 MW.
Two of the three Laramie River Station units near Wheatland, Wyo., set generation records in 2005 as well. Dallas Wade, Laramie River plant manager, said Unit 1's annual generation record stood only a year before it was broken. The unit generated 4,451,077 net MWh in 2005, exceeding the previous record by 50,647 MWh. Unit 2 set a new record at 4,720,545 net MWh. The old record of 4,534,480 MWh was set in 2003. Wade said the station as a whole had the second highest annual generation in its history at 13,024,102 MWh. The power plant�s three units each have a rated capacity of 550 MW.
Wade said Unit 2 had an exceptionally good year overall. It logged an availability rate of 99.4 percent. Availability is the total percentage of time a generating unit is available for service. He said the unit's forced-outage rate was also outstanding at 0.06 percent, a record for the unit. The forced-outage rate represents the time a unit was called during the year to generate electricity but was unable to do so. Wade said the station�s 2005 forced outage rate of 1.55 percent was second only to 1986's rate of 1.03 percent.
The Antelope Valley Station performed well in 2005, according to Plant Manager John Jacobs, though no new records were set. He said Unit 2 was close to setting a generation record at 3,519,100 net MWh. This was the second highest ever for the unit, missing the previous record set in 2003 by only 35,011 MWh. Antelope Valley's two 450-MW units are located north of Beulah, N.D.
Basin Electric is a consumer-owned, regional cooperative headquartered in Bismarck, N.D. It generates and transmits electricity to 120 member rural electric systems in nine states: Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. These member systems distribute electricity to about 1.8 million consumers.
Basin Electric's generating resources include two coal-based power plants in North Dakota - the Antelope Valley Station, Beulah, and the Leland Olds Station, Stanton; a coal-based power plant in Wyoming - the Laramie River Station, Wheatland; an oil-based peaking station - the Spirit Mound Station, Vermillion, S.D.; nine combustion-turbine generators (natural gas) in the Gillette, Wyo., area; four wind turbines - two near Minot, N.D., and two near Chamberlain, S.D. Basin Electric purchases the entire output of three wind farms owned and operated by FPL Energy - one near Edgeley/Kulm and one near Wilton in North Dakota, and another near Highmore in South Dakota; and two other 750-kilowatt wind turbines, one located near Pipestone, Minn., and another near Rosebud, S.D.
__________________________________________
For more information about items in this section contact:
Ann Foster
Director of Communications
Ph: (515) 727-8945 or e-mail: afoster@iowarec.org
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