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Hastings sets electric generation record
At 5 p.m., Friday Aug. 4, Hastings Utilities set a new generation record of 329.4 Megawatts Per Hour with the city load at 66.6 MWH.
To help meet demand as well as bolster electric production reliability on a nationwide basis, all five Hastings power generation sites were called online at the same time for what is believed to be the first time ever, last week. North Denver Station No. 4 and No. 5 electrical generation units came offline at 9 p.m., Friday.
The Southwest Power Pool – a Regional Transmission Organization that exists to provide reliable power and competitive electricity prices – called NDS 4 and 5 into operation at 1 p.m., Sunday July 30 and 1 p.m., Monday July 31, respectively. Don Henry Power Center was called into operation 3 p.m., Monday July 31.
The coal-fire WEC 1 and 2 were running at full capacity at 77 and 220 megawatts per hour. NDS 4 was running at 6 MWH, NDS 5 ran at 10 MWH. Don Henry ran between 5 and 18 MWH.
Don Henry was originally planned to be taken offline at 6:15 p.m. Monday. NDS Unit No. 4 was to be brought offline at 1 p.m. Tuesday, with Unit No. 5 to follow at 1 p.m. Wednesday. However, all three units continued to be called into operation through Friday evening to help ensure reliability on a nationwide basis.
Those power generation sites joined WEC No. 1 and No. 2, which were already in operation.
Hastings’ previous record of 320 MWH was set in 2013 with WEC 1 and 2 and NDS 5 online.
NDS 4 requires a 48-hour notice to being called online. NDS 5 has a 72-hour notice.
Don Henry has a 1-hour notice to being called online and as a result is used in spot situations, including 68 times in 2022.
Don Henry operates primarily on natural gas but can also be operated on fuel oil. It can be brought on-line in a moment’s notice. NDS 4 and 5 are natural gas-fired generators.
NDS 4 and 5 typically operate once a year to prove their capacity and provide a financial benefit to Hastings Utilities rate payers through reliability and additional capacity, but those units have run more often than usual this summer.
To bring all the plants online took all 74 electric production employees, with support from Energy Supply and Engineering.
Preparation to bring the lesser-used generation sites online including gassing NDS 4 and 5, filling boilers up with water and balancing boiler chemistry and filling the NDS cooling tower with water.
NDS 4 and NDS 5 operated continuously from their respective completion dates in 1957 and 1967 until WEC 1 was operational in 1981. The NDS units have been in intermittent and reserve status since then.
WEC 2 was operational in 2011. Don Henry was operational in 1972.
Published Date: 08/ 9/2023