Calpine Corporation has successfully placed the first 300 megawatt phase of the Fox Energy Center combined-cycle power plant, located in Kaukauna, Wisconsin, into full commercial operation.
The new facility is providing approximately 150 megawatts of capacity to Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPSC), a subsidiary of WPS Resources Corporation, under a contract beginning June 1, 2005, with the remainder available for sale into the region’s wholesale power market.
The Fox Energy Center is being built under the Calpine Construct Plus model, where Calpine serves as general contractor for the facility. Calpine has obtained financing for the power plant through a $400 million, 25-year, non-recourse sale/leaseback transaction with affiliates of GE Commercial Finance Energy Financial Services.
Phase I of the project includes a single combustion turbine in a combined-cycle configuration with a Nooter/Eriksen heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), with supplementary duct-firing, and a Toshiba steam turbine generator. Phase II includes installation of a second combustion turbine and HRSG.
The Fox Energy Center is the first power plant in the Calpine fleet to use General Electric’s advanced 7FB combustion turbines. The facility interconnects electrically with American Transmission Company and with ANR Pipeline for natural gas transportation to the site.
Calpine is on schedule to complete phase II of the power plant by the end of this year, which will bring the plant’s total capacity to more than 550 megawatts and fulfill an additional contract requirement with Wisconsin Public Service Corporation beginning June 1, 2006.