Denton Municipal Electric, the locally-owned utility of the Texan city, has contracted Wärtsilä to deliver engineering and equipment (EEQ) for 225 MW gas power capacity. The plant will provide balancing power to the community, which aims to have 70% of its energy produced from renewables by early 2019.
Ambitious targets for wind and solar power, set in the Renewable Denton plan, require flexible gas power capacity to balance the grid at short notice. The city government already won an award some five years back for sourcing 40% of its energy needs from wind power. Its quest to source nearly three quarters of its energy from green energy is undiminished, but output fluctuations from renewable power sources urgently require flexible backup capacity.
Paradigm shift towards renewables
"Denton is changing the electricity generation paradigm by using renewables as our baseload power, and then using highly efficient, quick-starting generation, as needed, when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine. That's where Wärtsilä and their flexible power generation comes in,” said Mike Grim, executive manager at Denton Municipal Electric.
The ability of the 225 MW Smart Power Generation plant to quickly start and stop is just one of the many reasons why the municipal utility chose gas engines over gas turbines, Mr Grim said, pointing at Wärtsilä’s track record of quick delivery and the very low emissions of its engines, “which is something that the citizens of Denton highly value."
Balancing plant to start up in mid-2018
Wärtsilä agreed to deliver all equipment for the gas power project second half of 2017 to meet the scheduled start of commercial operations in July 2018. Its internal combustion engine technology has been chosen to balance the intermittent output of wind and solar power installations.
The Finnish manufacturer claims its solution will “decrease the city's emissions by 78%, deliver reliable, affordable electricity to its customers, and save hundreds of millions of dollars in electricity production costs.”