CDWR to Replace Coal-Fired Power with Natural Gas Generation

In an effort to slash its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) last week said it would terminate a contract to buy power from a units of NV Energy’s Reid Gardner coal-fired power plant in Nevada and instead rely on power from Northern California Power Agency’s (NCPA) 255-MW Lodi combined cycle natural gas-fired plant, which is under construction.

The plans are part of an initiative to "dramatically curtail" CDWR’s GHG’s emissions in coming decades, the department said in a press release.

The CDWR uses and generates large amounts of power to operate California’s 700-mile-long State Water Project, which pumps water from Northern California rivers to the San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley, Southern California cities, and Central Valley farms. It’s newly released climate action plan calls for a 50% reduction in GHG emissions below 1990 levels within seven years.

Among its key efforts are to divest its two-thirds interest in the 255-MW Unit 4 of NV’s Reid Gardner plant by July 2013. Power from that plant accounts for 10% to 15% of its energy supply. The four-unit Reid Gardner plant in Moapa, Nev., has a total capacity of 553 MW.

Most of that power will be replaced with power from the Lodi natural gas–plant 80 miles east of San Francisco, which is expected to enter service in July 2012.

Sources: POWERnews, CDWR

—Sonal Patel, Senior Writer, (@POWERmagazine)