California approves CPV 850-MW Sentinel gas plant
Fri Dec 3, 2010 2:59pm GMT
NEW YORK Dec 3 (Reuters) - The California Energy Commission approved construction of power plant developer Competitive Power Ventures's proposed 850-megawatt Sentinel natural gas-fired power plant in Riverside County.
"By licensing this natural gas power plant, the Energy Commission is meeting California's growing energy needs and minimizing environmental impacts," Energy Commission Vice Chair James Boyd said in a release late Wednesday.
"When this plant is fully operational in 2013, it will offer reliable power for many Riverside County's desert communities," said Boyd.
The Energy Commission said natural gas-fired power plants like Sentinel would facilitate expansion of intermittent renewable energy sources like wind and solar because gas plants can supply consistent and reliable power on demand -- when the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining.
The project will consist of eight General Electric Co (GE.N: Quote) LMS100 combustion turbines operating in simple cycle to provide quick-start, peaking capacity, energy and ancillary services to the Los Angeles area of the California ISO, which needs additional peaking capacity to ensure grid reliability, according to Energy Commission website.
The Energy Commission said CPV, of Silver Spring, Maryland, has a long-term power purchase agreement with Edison International's (EIX.N: Quote) Southern California Edison for five of the units and anticipates securing agreements to sell the output of the other three units under long-term contracts to one or more load-serving entities.
The Energy Commission website did not say how much the plant would cost to build and officials at CPV were not immediately available to comment. But using industry estimates for a similar sized simple-cycle power plant, the plant could cost about $565 million.
CPV will build the plant on 37 acres in unincorporated Riverside County near Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs and adjacent to several wind farms and a Southern Edison facility.
CPV told the Energy Commission it should take about 18 months to build the plant with a scheduled in-service date in the summer of 2013. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Walter Bagley)
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