California Receives Two Proposals For Peaker Power Plants

ByBridgeNews California Governor Gray Davis Mar. 13 announced that two proposals for power plants to provide electricity at peak use times this summer have been received by the California Energy Commission. A 90-Mw unit called the Larkspur Energy Facility would be located in the Otay Mesa area of San Diego. The second proposal is for the Indigo Energy Facility, a 135-Mw unit to be located near an existing wind generating facility in Palm Springs. Both projects, proposed by Wildflower Energy of Houston, use natural-gas-fueled simple-cycle turbine generators. Both projects are the result of a Feb. 8 Davis order to the California Energy Commission to use its emergency power plant permitting authority to permit new peaking and renewable power plants that can be on-line by July 31. Peaker power plants are simple-cycle generators that can be constructed quickly in a small area and can readily connect to the existing electricity transmission and natural-gas system. "We are doing everything we can to greatly streamline the time it takes to get new generation up and running this summer," Davis said.