South Texas Electric Cooperative 183 MW Sam Rayburn Expansion Prepares for Commercial Startup

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). South Texas Electric Cooperative (STEC) (Nursery, Texas), has completed construction of a 183 megawatt (MW) expansion at its Sam Rayburn Generating Station in Victoria County Texas and is preparing for commercial startup later this month. The $126 million project will provide enough power for approximately 99,000 homes serving the rural area needs of a growing population within STEC's existing service territory, stretching 200 miles along the Texas Gulf Coast.

The expansion project is located alongside the existing 43 MW Sam Rayburn Power Plant on Farm-to-Market Road 447 about 10 miles northwest of Victoria. The power island will operate in a combined-cycle configuration utilizing three GE Power Systems LM6000PC SPRINT gas turbine generators each with Chillers installed for Inlet Cooling and a Heat Recovery Stream Generator providing the steam requirements for a single Dresser Rand condensing steam turbine generator.

The engineering contract was awarded to the Kansas City, Missouri based Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company who assisted STEC in planning through construction completed the siting study, all necessary permitting, and an Environmental Assessment (EA) required to receive Rural Utilities Service (RUS) funding for the project. The construction contract was awarded to St. Louis, Missouri Based Fru-Con Construction Corp. who constructed the underground piping, duct bank, foundations and substructures that support the equipment with the project.

South Texas Electric Cooperative, Inc. was organized in 1944 for the sole purpose of providing dependable electric service to rural areas and currently serves a 26 county area through its six member distribution cooperatives.