Xcel Energy Continues with Plant Renovations Totaling Nearly $1 Billion in Minnesota

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Xcel Energy, Incorporated (NYSE:XEL)(Minneapolis, Minnesota) and its Northern States Power Company subsidiary are proceeding with projects to renovate three existing plants and the total investment for the projects is expected to reach nearly one billion dollars. These projects are a result of Xcel’s Metro Emissions Reduction Project (MERP) to reduce NOx, SO2, Mercury, Particulates and other emissions for the three plants. The overall scope of the massive project is to install pollution controls on one coal-fired plant and convert two other plants to burn natural gas.

Rehabilitation of the Allen S King Plant will involve the installation of state-of-the-art pollution control equipment and the refurbishment of existing electric generation and supporting equipment to enhance overall plant efficiency. The new pollution control system will include retrofitting the existing Babcock & Wilcox coal-fired boiler by installing a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) unit, dry flue gas desulfurization (FGD) scrubber, and a baghouse. Addition of this equipment is expected to reduce NOx emissions by 89%, SO2 emissions by 91%, and both particulates and mercury emissions by 20%. The balance of the work at King will include installation of a new cooling tower, circulating water system modifications, steam turbine replacement, and coal handling upgrades. Engineering is being provided by Black & Veatch (Overland Park, Kansas) and construction is being performed by Graycor Industrial Constructrors (Homewood, Illinois). Construction activity is ongoing and completion is expected during the spring of 2007.

Xcel selected Lockwood Greene, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CH2M HILL (Denver, Colorado), as the engineering and construction firm for the High Bridge Combined Cycle Project. This project involves replacing the existing High Bridge Plant with a natural gas fired combined cycle plant. The new combined cycle plant will consist of two Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) M501F combustion turbine generators, two Nooter/Eriksen heat recovery steam generators and a single (MHI) steam turbine generator. The new equipment will be installed in a new building on the existing site and utilize the existing circulating water system. The existing plant structures and stack will be demolished. Expected reductions of emissions at the site once the new plant commences operation include 99% reduction in SO2, 97% NOx, and 100% reductions for both particulates and mercury. Construction is currently underway and project completion is expected by mid-2008.

In addition to these two projects, plans are moving forward to repower the 165-megawatt Unit #7 at the Riverside Power Station. As planned, this project will involve installing two combustion turbine generators and two heat recovery steam generators to drive the existing Siemens Westinghouse steam turbine generator. This will replace two existing Babcock & Wilcox coal-fired boilers and increase capacity of the plant by 80 megawatts. After the new combustion turbine generators and steam turbine generators are installed, Unit #7 will be taken out of service to install new steam lines from the heat recovery steam generators. Unit #8 will continue to operate until the new facility is fully operational, at which time it will be retired and demolished. Xcel is expecting to receive permits this summer for the Riverside Repowering. The company is currently preparing to release bids to select an engineering firm over the next two months. Preliminary demolition work has begun and civil site prep is expected to begin in late 2006, in order to have the new plant operational in 2009. As a result of this project, SO2, Mercury & Particulates are expected to be reduced by 100%, while NOx will be reduced by 99%.

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