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Healy 2 power station online after GVEA repairs coal feed system
Alan Bailey Petroleum News
Golden Valley Electric Association has announced that its Healy Unit 2 coal-fired power station is back on line, after lying idle since 2016 awaiting resolution of a design flaw. The Fairbanks-based utility says that plant has been operating at near-peak capacity since a restart on July 28. And, having operated at a 95 percent availability for a 30-day period, the 50-megawatt plant has met a key benchmark for Regulatory Commission of Alaska approval.
The plant is located next to GVEA’s other coal fired plant at Healy, near the Usibelli Coal Mine. The locally produced coal enables the plants to generate relatively low-cost electricity. GVEA says that it anticipates the increased output of coal-fueled power bringing a reduction in the fuel and purchased power component of customers’ electricity bills.
“Every megawatt we generate with coal saves our members money,” said Bill Nordmark, GVEA board member for the Healy area.
Combined, the two coal plants can produce 75 megawatts of power.
“This is an important milestone for our Healy power station, and it represents countless hours of hard work and dedication from our employees and contractors,” said Cory Borgeson, GVEA president and CEO.
Clean coal project The story of the Unit 2 plant goes back to 1996 and 1997, when the plant was constructed as a clean coal project, to demonstrate a new technology for the efficient burning of coal. Following test running, the plant was placed in a warm lay-up status in 2000, according to information on the GVEA website.
In 2006 the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, which owned the plant, signed an agreement with Homer Electric Association for a restart of the plant. But that restart did not take place: In January 2009 AIDEA, GVEA and HEA formed an agreement, under which GVEA purchased the plant from AIDEA for $50 million. In 2014 and 2015, after 18 months of retrofitting and refurbishment, GVEA fired up the plant using oil. But in September 2016 spontaneous combustion damaged the plant’s coal feed system. A similar problem occurred with the coal feed system during an attempted plant startup in March 2017, according to the GVEA website.
Since then GVEA has made significant upgrades to both its Unit 1 and Unit 2 plants at Healy and has installed environmental controls in the Unit 2 plant, according to the GVEA website. The hiatus in production in the Unit 2 plant since 2016 has enabled GVEA to fix the design flaw in the coal feed and fuel transportation system, allowing the utility to bring the plant safely and reliably back into operation, GVEA says.
- ALAN BAILEY
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