Montana Coal-Fired Power Plant Soon to Produce and Sell Power

---

Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Centennial Energy Resources, LLC (Bismarck, North Dakota), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU)(Bismarck, North Dakota), will soon begin producing power through a recently completed 116-megawatt (MW) station in Hardin, Montana.

Construction of this plant, officially known as the Hardin Generating Station, began in July of 2004. The plant’s $21 million operating budget is a welcomed addition to the local economy, which will include 33 permanent jobs at the plant. Westmoreland’s coal mine in Absaloka will be providing an estimated 650,000 tons of fuel annually, and will have to beef up its crew to meet the needs of this plant.

The turbine installed in this plant is a GE 316X253 straight-flow condensing unit with a double flow exhaust that has been refurbished and upgraded. This unit is now capable of producing 116 megawatts of electricity. The boiler is a refurbished Mitchell that was built back in 1968 for a 500 MW plant in South Africa. A new GE Mark VI turbine control system and an EX2100C excitation system will be controlling the plant. The emission system is perhaps the most impressive section of this plant. Nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide levels will be reduced to roughly 90 percent each, and a fabric filter bag house will catch 99.9 percent of particular matter. Another environmentally friendly addition to the plant is the closed-loop water system that has almost no discharge back into the river. A power purchasing agreement has been reached with the Powerex Corporation, and the Hardin Generating Station should be selling power very soon.

View Plant Profile – 1062061
View Project Report – 47000282

Industrial Information Resources (IIR) is a Marketing Information Service company that has been doing business for over 22 years. IIR is respected as the leader in providing comprehensive market intelligence pertaining to the industrial processing, heavy manufacturing, and energy-related industries throughout the world.