Exciter System Issue Takes Minnesota's Largest Power Plant Offline

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Last weekend, Xcel Energy (NYSE:XEL) (Minneapolis, Minnesota) was forced to remove a large coal-fired unit in Becker, Minnesota, because of issues occurring in the plant's electrical exciter system. Engineers at the Sherburne County Power Station were forced to remove the 721-megawatt (MW) Unit 2. Plant officials indicated that they were having problems in the collector rings of the exciter. In a traditional coal-fired power plant, the exciter is part of the station's excitation system, the primary purpose of which is to provide power in the form of direct current and voltage, ultimately creating a magnetic field. The collector rings assist in the conversion and transfer of the exciter's output to the main generator. Engineers are still working on the issue and hope to have the unit restored by this weekend.

The Sherburne County Power Station is the state's largest power plant. The facility consists of three coal-fired units capable of producing 2,190 MW. The plant began operations in 1975, and all three units are equipped with steam turbines that were manufactured by General Electric (NYSE:GE) (Fairfield, Connecticut).

Xcel Energy is an electricity and natural gas energy company. It has a comprehensive portfolio of energy related products which serves 3.3 million electric and 1.8 million natural-gas customers. It provides energy to consumers in the states of Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin.

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