Zion Energy LLC Constructs Peaking Power Plant to Generate Up To 800 MW in Illinois

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Zion Energy LLC (Northbrook, Illinois), a subsidiary of Calpine Corporation (NYSE: CPN) (San Jose, California), began construction on a peaking power plant in Zion, Illinois in August 2001. The facility will consist of five 160 mega-watt (MW) GE Frame 7FA's simple-cycle combustion turbines that will operate on natural gas as a primary fuel and distillate oil as a back up fuel. The plant will also consist of five auxiliary boilers, two fuel heaters, and a fuel storage tank.

The project is being built in three phases. The first two GE Frame 7FA's will come on line June 2002. Construction will commence during August 2002 for the second two units with scheduled on line dates in June 2003. The fifth unit should come on line as early as 2004. Once the facility becomes operational, the plant will sell power to the regional wholesale market during peak demands and will be able to generate up to 800 MW of power when all five units are running. Montgomery Watson Harza (Chicago, Illinois) completed the detailed engineering and Kenny Construction (Zion, Illinois) is constructing this facility.

Calpine was founded in 1984 and is a leading independent power producer. The Company has ownership in 64 power plants producing 12,090 MW. Calpine also has 58 gas-fired projects either under construction or in advanced development stages with generating capacity over 29,000 MW. Calpine owns facilities not only in the United States, but also in Canada and the United Kingdom.