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Calif. Peaker to Go Combined Cycle, Perhaps with a Side of Solar

The California Energy Commission has approved converting a San Joaquin County peaker plant to a combined-cycle plant. The 169-MW Tracy Peaker Plant would become the 314-MW Tracy Combined Cycle Power Plant.

The decision last Wednesday was seen as opening the possibility of integrating solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation—to be built on city land—with the plant, owned by GWF Power. The power company said the solar component could add 40 MW of capacity.

Construction on the combined-cycle plant is expected to begin this fall.

If built, the PV addition to the gas-fired generation would be yet another addition to the list of facilities pairing combined-cycle plants with renewable generation to maximize infrastructure and grid connections while lowering the overall environmental impact of burning fossil fuels. (See these stories on the trend from POWER magazine: “Fossil Fuels + Solar Energy = The Future of Electricity Generation,” “The Power of Light: U.S. Solar Energy Trends,” “Top Plants: El Dorado Energy’s Solar Facility,” and the forthcoming May story on the integration of desalination in solar hybrid and conventional fossil power plants.)

Another recent example of this configuration surfaced last week when Sithe Global Power announced that its planned coal-fired plant near Mesquite, Nevada, would instead be a 700-MW gas-fired one and would integrate an additional 100 MW of solar generation.

Sources: Recordnet.com, Central Valley Business Times, Las Vegas Review-Journal, POWER

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