Nova Scotia, Canada-based energy company Emera Energy has selected General Electric (GE) to upgrade its Tiverton Power station in Rhode Island in an effort to increase the efficiency, capacity and long-term availability of the power plant and reduce its operating costs and environmental impacts.
The 265 MW natural gas-fired combined-cycle power plant provides electricity to Rhode Island and the surrounding area through ISO New England (ISO-NE).
This investment marks the first combined-cycle project in North America to incorporate three GE Power FlexEfficiency upgrade offerings, including a new .04 compressor, a Dry Low NOx 2.6+ combustor and GE’s Advanced Gas Path technology solution.
The upgrades of the plant’s 7F.03 gas turbines would help Tiverton Power save an estimated $1 million in fuel costs annually and boost the plant’s combined-cycle output by 22 MW. Emera Energy’s Pickles noted that by producing more megawatts more efficiently, this also will help improve Emera Energy’s competitive position against other power plants in the ISO-NE dispatch stack.
Moreover, the gas turbine’s heat rate (fuel efficiency) is expected to improve up to 3.4 percent at ISO conditions while its output is expected to increase up to 10.4 percent. The three Power FlexEfficiency upgrades will be implemented during a planned maintenance outage scheduled for April 2016, with commercial operation set to begin the following month. GE’s gas turbine equipment is expected to be supplied by the company’s facility in Greenville, South Carolina.
Tiverton Power began commercial operation in 2000. In 2013, Emera Energy acquired Tiverton Power along with the 520 MW Bridgeport Energy power plant in Connecticut and the 265 MW Rumford Power facility in Maine. The company’s goal is to enhance the three power plants to increase their competitiveness as other power plants in the region are retired and more intermittent renewable energy supplies are added to the grid.
