GE Supplying Water Recycling Technology To First US Power Plant To Be Built With Stricter Federal, State Emissions Limits
GE recently announced its zero liquid discharge (ZLD) wastewater recycling technology will be installed at the Russell City Energy Center (RCEC), a new 600-megawatt (MW) natural gas and steam combined-cycle power plant being built in Alameda County, Calif.
RCEC is the first power plant in the country to be built under a voluntary agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to meet stricter limits on greenhouse gases and other emissions. The plant is expected to enter commercial service in 2013 and supply energy to the San Francisco Bay region.
As part of the plant's arsenal of technologies to improve overall energy efficiency and reduce the plant's environmental footprint, GE is supplying lead contractor Bechtel with its ZLD system for onsite wastewater treatment and recycling.
"GE's ZLD system is an example of how technology can play a vital role in helping utilities and governments reduce the impacts of energy production on the world's vital fresh water supplies," said Heiner Markhoff, president and CEO—water and process technologies for GE Power & Water.
Power plants are major industrial consumers of water to support their operations—chiefly for power plant cooling, steam production and other production processes. But with the United States and international communities seeking to preserve the world's dwindling supplies of fresh water, the public and the private sectors have begun collaborating more closely to increase the deployment of industrial water recycling technologies.
"GE's ZLD technology was selected for the RCEC project after project leaders visited a reference power plant in Orlando, Fla., and observed the effectiveness of that facility's ZLD system," Markhoff noted.
GE‘s 400 gallons-per-minute brine concentrator and mixed-salt crystallizer will utilize a skid-mounted design to help Bechtel reduce field construction costs. GE's ZLD equipment is scheduled to be delivered between the fourth quarter of 2011 and first quarter of 2012.
Powered by cleaner burning natural gas, combined-cycle plants like the Russell City Energy Center are significantly more efficient than older fossil fuel generating stations still in operation. RCEC's combined-cycle power system will capture the exhaust heat from gas turbines to produce additional electricity.
Calpine, one of California's largest power providers, currently operates 38 power plants in the state, which combined are capable of generating more than 5,700 MW. This is equivalent to almost 10 percent of the state's peak power demand and is enough electricity to power more than 5 million households.
The RCEC project is jointly owned by affiliates of Calpine Corporation and GE Energy Financial Services.
About GE
GE is an advanced technology, services and finance company taking on the world's toughest challenges. Dedicated to innovation in energy, health, transportation and infrastructure, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs about 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit www.ge.com.
GE serves the energy sector by developing and deploying technology that helps make efficient use of natural resources. With more than 90,000 global employees and 2010 revenues of $38B, GE Energy is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technologies. The businesses that comprise GE Energy—GE Power & Water, GE Energy Services and GE Oil & Gas—work together to provide integrated product and service solutions in all areas of the energy industry including coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy; renewable resources such as water, wind, solar and biogas; and other alternative fuels. For more information, visit www.ge.com/energy
SOURCE: GE