Senior executives from Exelon Generation, Alstom, General Electric and Zachry were joined in July 9 by community leaders from Hood County, Texas, to officially break ground on the construction of a new combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) at Exelon’s Wolf Hollow Generating Station in Granbury.
The new CCGT will provide an additional 1,000 MW to the existing 704-MW natural gas power plant. The new unit will be one of the most environmentally friendly and efficient CCGTs in the state and the nation, using General Electric’s most advanced gas turbine technology and an air cooling system, eliminating the use of water to cool the unit., Exelon said in a July 9 statement.
Construction of the new unit is a part of Exelon Generation’s ongoing growth strategy and will allow the company to offer more low-carbon electricity to the growing Texas market. The new unit at Wolf Hollow is one of two new CCGTs the company is developing in Texas. The other 1,000-MW CCGT will be constructed at Exelon’s existing Colorado Bend Generating Station in Wharton, Texas, which is approximately 60 miles outside of Houston. Both units are expected to achieve commercial operation in 2017.
“Exelon is a forward-looking company, and what we see is a clean energy future that includes this kind of new technology, which uses little water and produces few emissions while generating electricity at a very low cost,” said Ken Cornew, president and CEO, Exelon Generation. “We’re delighted to be the first to employ this GE technology, and we’re delighted to do it in Texas.”
“Exelon Generation is focused on teamwork to create innovative solutions for our customers,” said Corey Hessen, vice president of Generation Development, Exelon Generation. “We are very proud of how our integrated development team of Exelon, Alstom, GE and Zachry created a generation solution that meets the needs of Texas, successfully balancing the need for new sources of power with environmental considerations.”
Exelon said July 8 that it was officially starting construction on the 1,000-MW Colorado Bend addition. Senior executives from Exelon Generation, Alstom, General Electric and Zachry were joined by community leaders from Wharton, Texas, to officially break ground on the project.
Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC), headquartered in Chicago, does business in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. Exelon is one of the largest competitive U.S. power generators, with more than 32,000 megawatts of owned capacity comprising one of the nation’s cleanest and lowest-cost power generation fleets.
