First Power Block at Sempra Energy's Mesquite Power Generating Station Reaches Commercial Startup

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Sempra Energy has completed testing of the first power block and will begin commercial operation this Sunday at it's Mesquite Power Generating Station. The $600 million natural gas-fired combined-cycle power plant will have a total capacity of 1,264-megawatts (MW) by Jan 2004 when the second power block reaches commercial operation.

Located in Tonopah, Arizona, about 40 miles west of Phoenix, the Mesquite Power Generating Station will feature two 632-megawatt power blocks. Each power block includes two 171-megawatt General Electric Frame 7FA combustion turbine generators paired with a heat recovery steam generator, and a 290-megawatt General Electric tandem-compound reheat double flow steam turbine generator. The plant is situated on 30 acres of a 400-acre site. The remaining property will be used for support facilities. The new power plant will tie into the Palo Verde Nuclear Station's Hassayampa switchyard, the major power grid that serves the western U.S. This highly efficient-designed plant will feature the latest in air emissions control technology and will use water from underground resources.

Black and Veatch and Zachry Construction (BVZ) (Kansas City, Missouri), is providing engineering, procurement, and construction services for the new plant. The company serves its clients with conceptual and preliminary engineering services, financial and asset management consulting services.

Plant Operations will fall under Mesquite Power LLC, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) (San Diego, California), which is a unit of Sempra Energy Global Enterprises, the umbrella for Sempra Energy's growth businesses.