turbines was driven by the need for
maximum flexibility at the company’s
Thomas A. Watson generating station,
which serves some 12 500 residential
and 2500 commercial customers.
A town meeting approved funding for
the plant in May 2006 and the contract
with Rolls-Royce was signed in the fall of
that year. The town’s backing was signifi-
cant in a state that had seen other projects
rejected after opposition from residents.
The two Trent 60 gen-sets entered
commercial service in June 2009 and
are already lowering costs for Braintree
residents. BELD immediately lowered
electricity prices by three quarters of a
cent per kilowatt hour, the result of
gaining increased control over its ener-
gy costs. This control is allowing BELD
to be less conservative in its approach
to power prices. Electric prices were
due to fall a further half cent per kilo-
watt hour before the end of 2009.
Bill Bottiggi, general manager of
BELD, said the new facility, which is
expected to log fewer than 1500 hours
a year of operation, is more than simply
a peaking plant. He added, “With the
low heat rate of the Trent gas turbine,
we are not just running in extremes.
The system peak is about 30 000 MW
but we are getting calls from the system
operator when the system load is in the
22 000 MW range.”
The two turbines, which can reach
full load in 10 minutes, allow an element
of redundancy that a single unit cannot
provide, said Rolls-Royce, adding that
the plant can still deliver 50% of its
capacity even if one unit goes offline.
SEE DIRECTLINK
WWW.DIESELGASTURBINE.COM
Cummins Power Gen-
eration worked with Nor-
Tech Fabrication on this
specialized power applica-
tion to power two por-
table rock crushers.
charge-air-cooled (CAC) diesel engine.
The diesel engine features optimized
air- and fuel-handling systems for
high-duty cycles and variable loads at
constant speed that are required in
Nor-Tech’s rugged applications.
Generator sets powered by the QSB7
engine include a mounted cooling system that enables the product to perform at high ambient air temperatures,
saving Nor-Tech installation costs due
to simplified design requirements for
rejected heat. Cummins Power Generation specifies ambient temperature
rating measured at the cooling air inlet
of the enclosure, an important distinction between the way some manufacturers rate power for their products,
according to Jim Stalnaker, sales manager with Cummins Northwest LLC.
“When selecting these Cummins
engines and generator sets, Nor-Tech
considered the advantages they offered
over a typical diesel-powered hydraulic
system,” Stalnaker said. “When you’re
dealing with engines, rocks and con-
veyor belts, you need reliable power
solutions that are going to work when
the conditions are tough.”
Because the last thing you need in a
harsh environment is leaving a customer
stuck between a rock and a hard place.
SEE DIRECTLINK
WWW.DIESELGASTURBINE.COM
Massachusetts, U.S.A. — developing the
relationship between the company and
the community-owned Braintree Electric
Light Department or BELD.
Rolls-Royce and BELD — a non-prof-it public utility founded in 1892 — drew
up a deal favoring BELD’s commitment
to provide maximum-value power to its
customers and the commitment of Rolls-Royce to build its market for aeroderivative gas turbines in North America.
BELD’s decision to invest in a new
facility was in response to the New
England system operator’s call for
4030 MW of new capacity to be added
to the region between 2010 and 2015.
With load demand growing by 1.5%
annually, the company foresaw the
prospect of needing to pay more for its
power in the future, potentially triggering power price hikes for its customers. The new high-efficiency plant
enables BELD to avoid price rises.
BELD explored various technology
options for both combined-cycle and
simple-cycle plants. The decision to
select the simple-cycle option using two
Rolls-Royce Trent 60 aeroderivative gas
Rolls-Royce
Braintree Electric Light, U.S.A.
The first two Rolls-Royce Trent 60 gas
turbines for the U.S. power generation
market have entered service in Braintree,
The first two Rolls-
Royce Trent 60 gas tur-
bines for the U.S. power
generation market have
entered service for
Braintree Electric Light
Department, Braintree,
Massachusetts, U.S.A.
