The 1,000MW Wildcat Point generation facility being developed in Cecil County, Maryland, US, by Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC), will be ODEC’s first combined-cycle power plant. It will deliver power to PJM Interconnection, a regional transmission organisation (RTO).
Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) approved the natural gas-fired generation facility on 8 April 2014. The groundbreaking ceremony for the $675m project was conducted on 14 October 2014, and the construction is expected to be completed by early 2017.
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The plant is expected to generate sufficient electricity to provide for 390,000 homes a year. It is anticipated to create approximately 600 construction jobs and 30 full-time jobs.
Wildcat Point generation facility make-up
Astoria Energy LLC was authorised by the New York Power Authority (NYPA) in April 2008 to build a second natural gas-fuelled plant in Queens to supply its governmental customers.
The proposed combined-cycle power plant is named after a popular cliff located along the Susquehanna River, 3.5 miles (5.6km) west of the facility. The plant site is approximately five miles (8km) west of the Town of Rising Sun, Maryland, and lies adjacent to ODEC’s Rock Springs Generation Facility that houses two simple-cycle peaking generation units.
The new facility will be equipped with two Mitsubishi M501 GAC combustion turbine generators (CTs), two heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) and one steam turbine generator (STG). The M501 GAC gas turbines are being manufactured at MPSA’s gas turbine manufacturing and service facility in Savannah, Georgia.
Each combustion turbine will include a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) equipped with duct burners with a rated capacity of 892 million British thermal units an hour (MMBtu/hr) each.
The heat in the exhaust gas from the CTs will be recovered in the HRSGs and further heated by duct burners to produce steam. The HRSGs will produce superheated steam that will drive the 500MW steam turbine generator (STG) to produce additional electricity.
Emissions from the CT and HRSGs will be controlled using a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system for NOx and an oxidation catalyst system for CO and VOC emissions. The NOx emissions will also be controlled using dry Low NOx (DLN) combustors.
Additional equipment will include one natural gas-fired auxiliary boiler, one emergency generator, one fire water pump and other ancillary power generation equipment.
Wildcat Point power project switchyard
The Wildcat Point power project will jointly use the existing 500kV switchyard at the Rock Springs site. It will also house two emergency diesel generators for providing backup power and an emergency diesel fire water pump engine.
Natural gas supply to the facility
Transco, a subsidiary of Williams Partners, will supply 192,000 dekatherms of natural gas to the Wildcat Point project through an 11mi (17.7km)-long pipeline under its Rock Springs expansion project. The pipeline will run through southern Lancaster County before connecting to the Wildcat Point power plant just south of the Pennsylvania/Maryland line.
Contractors involved with Wildcat Point project
White Oak Power Constructors, a joint venture between PCL Industrial Construction and Sargent & Lundy, was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the Wildcat Point generation facility.
ODEC engaged Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas (MPSA) for supplying two natural-gas powered M501GAC gas turbines and associated electric generators for the power plant. Under a separate contract, MPSA will also provide comprehensive turbine maintenance for the gas turbines.
ODEC awarded a $100m contract to Alstom for the supply of a steam tail package comprising two heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) and one steam turbine generator (STG) for the Wildcat Point power plant.
Burns & McDonnell was awarded the contract for providing assistance in the matters of siting, development, permitting and preliminary engineering services for the facility.
