The long anticipated update of the Encina Power Station is continuing its way through the public permitting process.
The Carlsbad Energy Center Project, entailing the retirement of Encina's three oldest steam boilers and the installation of a new plant, is undergoing review with the California Energy Commission. The commission staff is preparing a final staff assessment, which is the equivalent of an environmental impact report.
The assessment builds upon comments from other agencies and interested community members. The commission expects to issue its final assessment this month.
The California Public Utilities Commission has identified an immediate need for new generators providing 500 megawatts of additional reliable electricity in the San Diego basin. The Carlsbad Energy Center Project expects to provide approximately half of that need by replacing Encina's three steam boiler generators with new gas turbines.
The new equipment would use about the same volume of natural gas as the three old steam boilers it will replace, but will be capable of producing an additional 220 megawatts of electricity, bringing the total capacity up to 540 megawatts. Not only is there a significant increase in efficiency, the new generators feature rapid-start capability, delivering electricity to the grid within 10 minutes, rather than the 10 hours it takes the existing boilers to start-up.
The proposed rapid-start generators in the project address global warming by improving the gas usage by more than 30 percent when compared to the aging generators. The new generators also use air for cooling steam, rather than sea water, reducing Encina's water intake by 225 million gallons per day.
Most importantly, the air emission controls for Encina have improved considerably over the past 10 years and plans are underway to further improve regional air quality.
First, the heavy oil stored on-site will no longer be required as backup fuel by the California Independent System Operator, which operates the grid. Second, the new, combined-cycle gas turbines produce significantly fewer emissions than the steam generators to be replaced.
The California Energy Commission addressed the need for the project, land use requirements and alternative sites in its preliminary staff assessment. That assessment concluded that construction of the project on the site of an existing industrial property with access to existing power infrastructure, and with limited adjacent sensitive uses, has greater relative merit than development of a power plant at an alternative site.
Some Carlsbad residents have expressed concern that the ultimate widening of Interstate 5 adjacent to Encina may result in new views of the facility, particularly the new generating equipment to be placed near the freeway where oil tanks currently reside.
Accurately scaled visual renderings of the project have been provided to the commission, showing equipment locations in relation to existing high earthen berms and mature vegetation and large trees. While no I-5 widening alignments have been submitted by CalTrans for public review, the commission and CalTrans have ongoing discussions regarding these regionally important infrastructures, and CalTrans has stated that both projects can co-exist.
Nonetheless, the commission will have continuing jurisdiction over the new generating equipment for the life of the new power plant to require visual mitigation as necessary to reasonably address the public's visual impact concerns.
The eventual use of the Encina property adjacent to the ocean depends upon the replacement of its aging steam boilers. The first phase of Encina's retirement is driven by the proposed project.
As the transmission system into San Diego is improved by the addition of the new Sunrise Powerlink, and the proposed project is brought on-line, the planning would begin for the next phase of aging boiler replacement. Eventually, the property where the landmark power building and stack are now located can be redeveloped for uses more harmonious with the coastal zone and the city's vision for that area.
For more information, visit www.carlsbadenergycenter.com.
The Carlsbad Energy Center Project, entailing the retirement of Encina's three oldest steam boilers and the installation of a new plant, is undergoing review with the California Energy Commission. The commission staff is preparing a final staff assessment, which is the equivalent of an environmental impact report.
The assessment builds upon comments from other agencies and interested community members. The commission expects to issue its final assessment this month.
The California Public Utilities Commission has identified an immediate need for new generators providing 500 megawatts of additional reliable electricity in the San Diego basin. The Carlsbad Energy Center Project expects to provide approximately half of that need by replacing Encina's three steam boiler generators with new gas turbines.
The new equipment would use about the same volume of natural gas as the three old steam boilers it will replace, but will be capable of producing an additional 220 megawatts of electricity, bringing the total capacity up to 540 megawatts. Not only is there a significant increase in efficiency, the new generators feature rapid-start capability, delivering electricity to the grid within 10 minutes, rather than the 10 hours it takes the existing boilers to start-up.
The proposed rapid-start generators in the project address global warming by improving the gas usage by more than 30 percent when compared to the aging generators. The new generators also use air for cooling steam, rather than sea water, reducing Encina's water intake by 225 million gallons per day.
Most importantly, the air emission controls for Encina have improved considerably over the past 10 years and plans are underway to further improve regional air quality.
First, the heavy oil stored on-site will no longer be required as backup fuel by the California Independent System Operator, which operates the grid. Second, the new, combined-cycle gas turbines produce significantly fewer emissions than the steam generators to be replaced.
The California Energy Commission addressed the need for the project, land use requirements and alternative sites in its preliminary staff assessment. That assessment concluded that construction of the project on the site of an existing industrial property with access to existing power infrastructure, and with limited adjacent sensitive uses, has greater relative merit than development of a power plant at an alternative site.
Some Carlsbad residents have expressed concern that the ultimate widening of Interstate 5 adjacent to Encina may result in new views of the facility, particularly the new generating equipment to be placed near the freeway where oil tanks currently reside.
Accurately scaled visual renderings of the project have been provided to the commission, showing equipment locations in relation to existing high earthen berms and mature vegetation and large trees. While no I-5 widening alignments have been submitted by CalTrans for public review, the commission and CalTrans have ongoing discussions regarding these regionally important infrastructures, and CalTrans has stated that both projects can co-exist.
Nonetheless, the commission will have continuing jurisdiction over the new generating equipment for the life of the new power plant to require visual mitigation as necessary to reasonably address the public's visual impact concerns.
The eventual use of the Encina property adjacent to the ocean depends upon the replacement of its aging steam boilers. The first phase of Encina's retirement is driven by the proposed project.
As the transmission system into San Diego is improved by the addition of the new Sunrise Powerlink, and the proposed project is brought on-line, the planning would begin for the next phase of aging boiler replacement. Eventually, the property where the landmark power building and stack are now located can be redeveloped for uses more harmonious with the coastal zone and the city's vision for that area.
For more information, visit www.carlsbadenergycenter.com.