Big Problems at Big Bend

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Late last week, Florida's Big Bend Power Station's Unit 2 was forced to come down because of what plant personnel stated was a malfunction of the DC backup lube-oil system, which caused the unit to trip and caused major damage to the turbine. Plant personnel will be pulling the rotor out, and the generator will be sent to Charlotte, North Carolina, for repairs. In addition, the plant is currently taking all of the bearings apart. The station does not have a return date in mind as of yet and will have to assess the extent of damage that was caused in order to estimate how long the repairs will take.

Big Bend Power Station is located on Big Bend Road on nearly 1,500 acres in southeastern Hillsborough County, Florida. Big Bend Power Station is owned and operated by TECO Energy Incorporated (NYSE:TE) (Tampa, Florida). The facility has four coal-fired units with a combined output of more than 1,800 megawatts. Big Bend consists of four pulverized-coal-fired steam units and three distillate-fueled combustion turbines (peaking units). The first unit began service in 1970, while the second and third generating units were added in 1973 and 1976. Unit 4 was added in 1985. The capacity provided by the three combustion turbines boosts Big Bend's output to almost 2,000 megawatts.

TECO Energy is an S&P 500 Energy Company headquartered in Tampa, Florida. The company's four business units include Tampa Electric, a regulated electric utility serving nearly 667,000 customers in West Central Florida; Peoples Gas System, Florida's largest natural gas distribution utility; TECO Coal, a producer of coal in Kentucky and Virginia; and TECO Guatemala, owner of two power plants and an interest in Guatemala's largest distribution utility.

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