Gas

Fluor completes Texas project

Fluor Corp. (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) has finished building and commissioning the 620-MW Jack County power plant (Figure 2) near Jacksboro, Texas, for Waco-based Brazos Electric Cooperative Inc. The natural gas–fired, combined-cycle plant officially came on-line on February 1.

 

2. Texas 2 x 1 step. The gas-fired, 620-MW, combined-cycle Jack County Generation Plant was built and commissioned by Fluor Corp. Courtesy: Brazos Electric Cooperative Inc.

 

Brazos Electric awarded Fluor the engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) and commissioning contracts for the plant in 2003. Fluor said the engineering support provided by its Houston office was invaluable to its on-time completion of the EPC contract.

The customer certainly was satisfied with Fluor’s performance. "We’re excited about being able to provide the low-cost, clean energy from this power plant to our members," said Brazos Electric’s executive VP and GM, Clifton Karnei. "This project enhances our ability to reliably serve our members in an area that is expected to experience significant growth in electricity demand."

Jack County is a typical 2 x 1 combined-cycle plant. It is powered by two 7FA gas turbine-generators (each rated at 160 MW) from Atlanta-based GE Energy, one D11 steam turbine (also from GE) rated at 300 MW, and two heat-recovery steam generators from Aalborg Industries (Miramar, Fla.). Measurements indicate that the plant’s 4-ppm NOx and 0.6-ppm CO emissions are well below permitted limits of 5 ppm and 26 ppm, respectively. Cooling water for the plant is drawn from Lake Bridgeport and transported to the plant through 13 miles of ductile iron pipe. The plant is a zero-discharge facility. A new substation and three new transmission lines were built to export its production.

The project had a perfect safety record. "We’re proud of having done more than 900,000 hours of work with no lost-time accidents or restricted workdays," said Bob Mickey, Fluor’s senior VP for power.

Brazos Electric, with 2,400 MW of installed capacity, is the state’s largest generation and transmission cooperative; its 17 members serve customers in 68 counties from the Panhandle to Houston. Organized in 1941, it was the first co-op in Texas created specifically to generate and supply electricity.

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