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Going Gas by Bert Caldwell The Spokesman Review, March 25, 2001

Avista Corp. turns to natural-gas generation plants as quick,
clean alternative to hydroelectricity

Avista Corp., a company known for more than 100 years as Washington Water Power Co., will be the second-largest holder of natural-gas generation plants in the Northwest by the middle of 2002.

Completion of its Coyote Springs 2 plant near Boardman, Ore., will bring the total generating capacity of plants owned or leased by Avista subsidiaries to 750 megawatts, almost equal to the combined capacity of its two biggest dams on the Clark Fork River.

Only Portland-based PacifiCorp will own more.

Gas turbines have become a resource of the future in a region long dependent upon hydroelectricity.

This year's low streamflows have exposed the system's vulnerability, especially after a decade of substantial population growth unsupported by new generating facilities.

The wholesale price of electricity has soared ten fold, and there may not be enough at any price to forestall blackouts this summer.

Gas turbines are a quick answer to the generation shortage, but even a project with all the environmental permits in hand can take two years to build.

So Avista and other companies are pressing ahead with construction as fast as they can.

"There's just not very many rivers left to dam," said Dennis Vermillion, president of Avista Energy. "We've got to look to other alternatives."

Avista Energy is one of three subsidiaries involved in the gas turbine projects.

Who owns what, or does what, can be a little hard to follow.

Avista Utilities owns the Northeast Generating Station, with a capacity of 60 megawatts, in north Spokane. The company also operates and leases 100 percent of the Rathdrum Combustion Turbine, with 140 megawatts, near Rathdrum, Idaho.

The utility, which sells electricity to 313,000 customers in Eastern Washington and North Idaho, will also own the Coyote Springs plant, with a capacity of 280 megawatts, when construction is completed.

In the meantime, Coyote Springs is in the hands of Avista Power, which also owns 49 percent of the Rathdrum Power Project nearing completion five miles west of the smaller Rathdrum Combustion Turbine.

Avista Energy, the energy trading subsidiary of Avista Corp., will sell the power generated by the new Rathdrum plant and negotiate for gas supplies.

Avista Energy provides the same service for the other Avista plants, as well as a turbine in Clark County.

All power from Avista Utilities plants will be dedicated to meeting the needs of its own customers.

Avista Energy will sell the electricity from the Rathdrum Power Project to the highest bidder.

Vermillion would not estimate the potential revenues from the Rathdrum Project, but with a megawatt-hour selling for about $300, the output could be worth as much as $2 million per day.

If the current construction schedule holds, Avista and partner Cogentrix will add the 270-megawatt Rathdrum Power Project to the region's resource base Aug. 1, three months ahead of schedule.

The cost will be about $140 million.

Two weeks ago, 250 electricians, pipefitters and other workers were pushing to accelerate the construction timetable.

"We have done whatever we could to expedite the process," said George Perks, Avista Power's site manager.

"We're pushing hard," he said. "We'd like to get it on line as soon as possible."

But Perks noted that, despite the haste, there had not been a single lost-time accident in the 368 days since ground-breaking.

One worker cut his lip, another took two stitches on his nose.

The contractor for the project is The Industrial Co. Ken Dean is TIC's contract manager at Rathdrum.

Statistically, Dean said, 18 people would have been injured on a project like Rathdrum.

He credited the safety and construction progress to the quality of the work force and the experience of Cogentrix, which has built several gas turbine plants around the United States.

"They're a very knowledegable owner," Dean said. "That has helped to streamline the design of the plant.

"When TIC got here, there was a plan."

Also, Dean said, plant components delivered from as far away as Spain, Brazil, Australia and Korea have fit perfectly. And they were on the site when crews were ready to install them, he said.

Industrial was awaiting only two small pieces, he said. "It's just a matter of getting it done."

The Rathdrum Power Project is a combined-cycle plant.

Put simply, Perks said, "We burn the fuel once and use the heat twice."

The process starts with combustion in a gas turbine that generates 190 megawatts of power. Heat captured from the turbine then produces steam at 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit that drives a second, 80-megawatt turbine.

Perks said adding the steam generator increases the plant's efficiency to 50 percent, compared with the 35 percent achieved at the single-cycle Rathdrum Combustion Project.

Two wells pump water for the steam, which is cooled in a building adjacent to the turbines.

"No wastewater leaves the site," Perks said.

He added that relatively little sound leaves the 100-acre area, thanks to a pre-construction decision to enclose the entire plant.

The sound level at the site boundary will be about 65 decibels, Perks said. Normal traffic produces about 70 decibels.

The plant will consume about 1.6 billion btus of gas an hour. An average home uses 11,000 btus an hour.

The right of way for a Pacific Gas Transmission pipeline crosses the Rathdrum Power Project site, and a 230-kilovolt Bonneville Power Administration transmission line passes nearby.

The timeliness of the Rathdrum Project's construction, and the cleanliness of combined-cycle plants, won praise from an unlikely source -- the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Attorney Ralph Cavanaugh said such plants emit just a fraction of the pollutants of a coal plant. They are even more superior than diesel generators many utilities will use this summer.

"Time is of the essence," he said. "I think the conservation community should celebrate the addition of combined-cycle plants."

Eventually, Cavanaugh said, environmentalists expect new gas plants to replace older, dirtier facilities in California.

Dean said TIC will begin shaking down the project next month. The process will take about four months.

When completed, the company will hand the keys to Cogentrix, which will operate the plant.

He said permanent employment will be about 20.

The project is designed to run all day, 365 days a year. Average output will be 248 megawatts, about one-fourth Avista Utilities' average load.

An extra 22 megawatts can be generated by boosting the heat of the steam, Perks said. The plant can also be run at just 70 percent of capacity, although less efficiently.

Vermillion said Avista Energy will take a conservative approach to selling Rathdrum Project power.

Larger companies could bet the output will be available on a fixed date, and cover the commitment with electricity from other sources, he said.

"We would tend to be more risk adverse," Vermillion said, but he added that there may be utilities willing to buy the power and assume the risk delivery may be delayed.

Vermillion said the Rathdrum Project incorporates proven technology that should perform as expected.

Some plant systems are already operational, Perks said Thursday.

"I've been in the business 30 years, and this is an extremely good project," he said.