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[SW Colorado]Nucla Power Plant offers a unique opportunity for Southwest Colorado to realize the loudly-touted intention to generate twenty percent of its power with renewable resources by 2020. Nucla is a 100 MW coal-burning power plant located forty miles southwest of Montrose. Its steam cycle is of relatively low pressure design rebuilt in 1985 to facilitate an experimental combustor in which plant efficiency was sacrificed to limit SO2 emissions. Consequently its carbon dioxide footprint is very large.
The plants performance is further impaired by frequent shut downs to repair failed tubes not properly annealed in the experimental combustor. As it stands the plants future is questionable.
Fortunately, however, the plant’s steam turbines will easily mate with new gas turbines
Fortunately, however, Nucla's steam turbines, currently powered by coal, can easily be powered by gas turbines to create a 300 MW combined cycle plant. Exhaust from gas-fired turbines can be used to generate steam to run steam turbines previously run by a coal-fired boiler, which would be shut down completely.
Combined cycle power plants (combining gas turbines and steam turbines) are well recognized for their ability to accommodate the load swings of large blocks of solar and wind power, and Nucla Power Plant is well-situated for such a source of renewable energy. This plant is fortunate to be located just a few miles north of Dry Creek Basin. Dry Creek Basin is within “the Solar Oven of the Nation” which extends from central California to Texas and from Mexico to Southwest Colorado. This basin receives 20,000 kilojoules per square meter of energy each day from the sun—toll free!
Nucla Power Plant is an established power plant setting atop undeveloped natural gas with existing water rights and existing |
 Proposed co-generation system whereby gas generation in addition to existing coal handling, will be supplemented with solar/wind generation.
transmission lines. Producing electricity with natural gas combustion, rather than coal, will double thermal efficiency and reduce CO2 production rate by fifty percent. These modifications will reduce air and water pollution and eliminate ash disposal problems while tripling the capacity of the plant and accommodating 200,000 KW of solar power.
On an average day, of the total power generated, gas will provide 35%, renewable energy (in this scenario - solar) will provide 28%, and the balance will come from power imported over existing transmission lines.
This transition from a coal-fired power plant, to a combined cycle plant augmented by a renewable energy plant will provide new jobs and vitality to the area. The final result is to bring southwest Colorado power generation home, reducing the amount of power purchased from outside sources, increasing jobs, decreasing consumer costs, and thereby stimulating economic development on all fronts. |