Carolina Power & Light’s Rowan County plant is springing to life as workers test giant generators and turbines.
The project is on schedule according to Bill Hickman, site construction manager. Three combustion turbines will be ready to go on line in June to provide more than 450 megawatts of electricity during heavy demand — or peak load — periods.
Two units are scheduled to go on line June 1, with the third unit scheduled for June 15.
The power will go to Duke Power customers over the heavy transmission lines that cross Rowan County. Electricity being produced during testing already is going on the “power grid.”
CP&L’s power plant is the first to be built in Rowan in a half-century. But soon, a Texas-based power company, Entergy, will build a six-unit plant next door. And Duke Power is seeking permits to construct an eight-unit plant at its Buck Steam Station, the original power plant built on the Yadkin River in the late 1920s.
The construction phase at the CP&Lsite is nearing an end. Testing of equipment and finishing touches on the grounds are final items on Hickman’s check list.
He has spent the better part of two years on the project off old U.S. 801, the third CP&L combustion turbine operation he has built. Soon he’ll be off to St. Petersburg, Fla., to oversee construction of another plant, an exact replica of the Rowan plant.
The push to build power plants is being fueled by demand for electricity. “Duke and other utilities are trying to stay on the front edge, stay ahead of the demand,” said Hickman. “Everybody wants the avoid the problems in California.”
California’s power woes have galvanized the nation and the power industry. “We can’t live without electricity,” said Hickman.
A native of South Carolina, Hickman grew up in Hickman’s Crossroads, a small community outside Calabash. He’s been with CP&L for 12 years, with most of that time in the nuclear division.
On his first trip to western Rowan County, Hickman marveled at the beauty of the rolling hills and the Carolina blue sky. In the months since, he has gotten to know many of the residents of the area. “They’re nice, friendly folks,” said Hickman.
Hickman and other CP&L staff have been working with the Woodleaf Volunteer Fire Department that provides fire protection for the area.
The company’s efforts, from the outset, to talk with neighbors may have prevented a lot of ill will.
From a distance, only the tops of the metal smokestacks are visible. Heavy woods surround much of the site and CP&L has planted hundreds of additional trees.
“Out of sight, out of mind,” said Hickman, explaining the goal. Since testing of the turbines began, they’ve heard little from neighbors.
Construction noise on the site often drowns out the noise from the turbines. The units have huge mufflers, or silencers, mounted on the smoke stacks to reduce noise.
Visitors to the site can’t hear the turbines and often ask Hickman, “Are we running?”
The plant itself will be fenced in with several areas of gravel covered grounds.
The three giant generator-turbines dominate the site. A covered fuel depot allows for several tankers to unload No. 2 fuel oil into two 3-million-gallon tanks. The plant will burn fuel oil only if natural gas isn’t available from the nearby pipeline.
Large water tanks are adjacent to the fuel tanks, storing demineralized water which is essential in the power producing process.
A nondescript metal building houses the control center and provides living quarters for operators who occasionally may need to stay on site.
The control room features a circular area with banks of computer screens and keyboards to monitor and control the generating equipment.
Although computers control the generators and turbines, a person must be on site, pushing buttons, to start the generators.
Hickman expects to return to Rowan after his Florida stint.
CP&Lplans to add a combined cycle turbine that uses large amounts of water and steam. Scheduled for construction in 2003, the unit will add 466 megawatts of electricity, nearly doubling the plant’s capacity, according to Aaron Perlut, a communications specialist with Progress Energy, the holding company that owns CP&L and Florida Power.
According to a Progress Energy report, the company currently has 19,000 megawatts of power-generating capacity and 16,000 employees, with $20 billion in assets and 2.8 million customers in the Southeast.
Rowan County Commissioners are scheduled to tour the CP&L site May 8.
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