5 Tours in Electric Power Generation
| Antelope Valley Station Beulah, ND |
The Antelope Valley Station is a lignite-fired electric generating station located seven miles northwest of Beulah, ND. It has two units, each rated at 450,000 KW. The first unit began commercial operation in July 1984, and the second unit began in July 1986. They were built at a cost of $1.9 billion. Lignite, the fuel for AVS, is provided from the Freedom Mine, adjacent to the plant site. A major part of the fuel supply also comes from the neighboring Great Plains Synfuels Plant in the form of lignite fines, coal particles too small for use in the ... |
| Idaho National Laboratory Idaho Falls, ID |
In operation since 1949, the Idaho National Laboratory is a government reservation located in the southeastern Idaho desert. At 890 square miles (569,135 acres), the INL Site is roughly 85 percent the size of Rhode Island. It was established in 1949 as the National Reactor Testing Station, and for many years was the site of the largest concentration of nuclear reactors in the world. Fifty-two nuclear reactors were built, including the U.S. Navy's first prototype nuclear propulsion plant. During the 1970s, the laboratory's mission broadened into other areas, such as biotechnology, energy and materials research, and conservation and renewable energy. ... |
| Leland Olds Station Stanton, ND |
The Leland Olds Station (LOS) is named for Leland Olds, a champion of public power who served on the Federal Power Commission for 10 years under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In a speech in 1959, Olds called for the construction of consumer-owned power plants that would be integrated with the federal hydroelectric dams on the Missouri River. He described what was then a hope for him, but it eventually became a successful reality through the creation of Basin Electric in 1961. LOS, located four miles southeast of Stanton, ND, was the first electric generating station built by Basin Electric. ... |
| Spirit Mound Station Vermillion, SD |
The Spirit Mound Station near Vermillion, SD, was built to help meet the peak electric requirements of Basin Electric's member systems. The oil-fired station is operated on an "as needed" basis during periods of extreme hot or cold temperatures (when the demand for electricity exceeds the capacity of base-load facilities), increased agricultural loads (including irrigation) and emergencies. Construction on the $30 million peaking station began in December 1976, and commercial operation began in the spring of 1978. The 120,000-kilowatt plant consists of two 60,000- kilowatt combustion units that are operated from the plant or remotely from the Leland Olds ... |
| Laramie River Station Wheatland, WY |
The Laramie River Station (LRS) is a coal-fired electric generating station located six miles east of Wheatland, WY. It is recognized as one of the most highly efficient, cleanest-operating electric generating stations technically feasible. The plant's sophisticated environmental control equipment, which cost more than $300 million, protects the land, air and water. Laramie River Station itself was constructed for a cost of $1.6 billion and has a total generating capacity of 1,650 megawatts (MW). LRS is owned by the Missouri Basin Power Project (MBPP), a group of six consumer-owned electric utilities of which Basin Electric is project manager. ... |