Southwest 2 plant up and running – finally

Southwest 2 coal plant begins commissioning in Springfield, a 300-megawatt City Utilities coal-fired power plant, with initial natural gas tests, first grid connection, Powder River Basin fuel, and an invitation-only dedication.

The new Southwest 2 power plant has been producing electricity for more than a week, and was officially dedicated recently with a ceremonial connection to the regional power grid.

The event is by invitation only, according to City Utilities, because of the large amount of construction equipment that hasn't yet been removed from the site.

CU spokesman Joel Alexander said the utility may have an open house so the public can see the 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant, amid the ongoing coal plant debate nationwide.

The unit has taken four years to build at a cost of $697 million, while SWEPCO plans a 600-megawatt plant elsewhere in the region.

City, county and utility officials and representatives of companies that helped build the plant have been invited to the dedication, similar to a recent Comanche plant tour by regulators in another state.

The main guest speaker will be Mark Crisson, president of the American Public Power Association.

CU Board Chairwoman Lisa Officer has been tapped to connect Southwest 2's generator to the regional electric grid, using a computer mouse to electronically make the link.

The plant will continue to undergo testing until it begins producing power commercially in January.

Scott Miller, CU manager of power supply, said plant operators have been using natural gas to fire Southwest 2's boiler during the early test phase of the plant.

On November 2, operators successfully connected the SW2 to the regional power grid for the first time — a major milestone.

The plant is expected to switch to its primary fuel — coal from Wyoming's Powder River Basin — soon, even as the heat is on for coal plants across the region, Miller said.

"The unit has been running solid since November 9," Miller said. "We don't have the capability to go to a full electrical load using only natural gas — the most we can get is about 120 megawatts. With coal, we'll go to the full 300 megawatts."

Miller said the project has run smoothly so far.

One odd problem did crop up when work crews heated up the 5,122-ton boiler for the first time.

As it gets hot the boiler — which generates steam to spin a power-generating turbine — stretches by about 10 inches.

Miller said the boiler expanded far enough that it made contact with some pipe that had been laid underneath the unit.

"We had to shut it down and let the boiler cool so we could go in and cut the pipes out of the way and re-weld them," Miller said. "It took us a day to correct it."

CU sought to build SW2 after reviewing options to assure future power sources as Springfield grows.

Springfield voters initially rejected the plant in 2004, but approved it two years later — along with a 16 percent rate hike to pay for it — after a Power Supply Community Task Force spent months looking at various options, much like debates over an Arizona coal plant unfolded elsewhere.

Building a coal-fired unit was the task force's top choice, along with a recommendation for CU to significantly expand its energy management and conservation programs, which the utility has done, even as clean-coal plans evolve elsewhere.

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