GE to build lead 60 Hz plant for H system at Calpine-owned two-unit facility in Southern California
GE and Calpine Corp have selected Calpine’s Inland Empire Energy Center, located at Romoland in Riverside County, Southern California, for the North American launch of GE’s most advanced gas turbine technology, the H System.
Licensed by the California Energy Commission (CEC) in December 2003, the 775 MW project is scheduled to be online by mid-2008, with construction expected to begin this year.
The Inland Empire Energy Center will be based on two GE 107H combined-cycle systems and is expected to cost of the order of half a billion dollars. Calpine Power Services, a subsidiary of Calpine Corp, will provide management services for the construction.
Calpine will retain development responsibility for the new facility, secure the necessary permits amendments and will ultimately sell the power through a variety of long, intermediate and short-term contracts. Calpine’s Energy Services group will market electricity from the facility through a long-term marketing arrangement with GE. Following an undisclosed period of GE ownership, Calpine will purchase the plant and become the sole owner and operator of the facility.
This is GE’s third attempt to locate a lead project for the 60 Hz H system, previous candidate projects including Heritage in the USA and Suroit in Canada. The lead 50 Hz system is located at Baglan Bay in the UK.