Not-for-profit generator Wolverine Power Supply Co-op. has got its new Alpine gas peaking plant fully powered and ready to produce 410 MW of electricity, enough for nearly 120,000 homes. Final commissioning of the open-cycle plant, located in Elmira, Michigan, will continue in the weeks ahead and once complete, the units are handed to the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) for routine dispatch.
The operator said its project team had successfully brought Unit 1 to full-load (205 MW) on June 13, joining Unit 2 that reached full-load during the last week of May. The OCGT is driven by two GE 7F.05 turbines which can achieve up to 60% efficiency.
Thanking his employees, Wolverine CEO Eric Baker highlighted the “essential skills and knowledge” of power plant chiefs, operators, engineers, and technicians that helped “bring us this far.”
“Wolverine's engineering and operations personnel offered vital commissioning support to hunt down and fix a number of typical commissioning nuisances, and to prepare the transmission network for start-up," he said.
As the largest generator in north Michigan, Woverine finds that the addition of the 410 MW Alpine peaking plant helps ensure its overall operational flexibility and sustains its capacity to provide clean, reliable and affordable power supply to its members. This is deemed vital as Michigan faces a projected capacity shortfall in the coming years.
Headquartered in Cadillac, Wolverine is owned by and supplies wholesale power to five distribution electric cooperatives: Cherryland Electric, Grawn; Great Lakes Energy, Boyne City; HomeWorks Tri-County Electric, Presque Isle Electric & Gas, and Midwest Energy; and two alternative electric suppliers: Spartan Renewable Energy and Wolverine Power Marketing.