Big Stone II project achieves key milestones
Elk River, Minn. – The presidents of the seven utility co-owners of Big Stone II announced today that the Big Stone II Project continues to achieve key milestones. During this past summer, the Project Team secured the plant’s solid waste, surface water and siting permits from the state of South Dakota. Air, groundwater and transmission route permit processes are underway in South Dakota, as are Certificate of Need proceedings in Minnesota for transmission lines to be located there. The Big Stone II Project will be a coal-fired electric generating plant located next to the existing Big Stone Plant near Milbank, South Dakota.
Black & Veatch Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri, a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company for such projects, has been selected as Owners’ Engineer. Based on the most recent design refinements, construction of the 630-megawatt (MW) project is expected to cost approximately $1.6 billion. Efforts continue to maximize efficiencies and minimize costs.
“The seven co-owners have affirmed their commitment to installing a low-energy cost, reliable, baseload generating unit to help meet growing customer needs while protecting our customers from the volatile costs of oil and natural gas,” said Mark Rolfes, Big Stone II Project Manager.
“Big Stone II is a necessary addition to the regional power supply, and part of the largest build-up in baseload electric generation capacity additions in the United States in 40 years, a strong trend happening worldwide. Our customers will benefit from the co-owners’ timely action several years ago to create and hold a place in the nationwide and worldwide queues for equipment fabrication resources and installation of these needed facilities over the next few years.
“We will ensure that the timing of our commitments for expenditures related to major pieces of equipment are properly aligned with securing necessary construction and operating permits. Constructing a large power plant project requires coordination, not only of engineering design but also financing, permitting and procurement factors. Consequently, the Project’s commercial in-service date may range from mid-2011 to early 2012 to match the variety of schedules involved in this complex undertaking.
“Among other recent design enhancements including increased plant output and improved operating efficiency, we have made additional improvements in the design for water supply to further improve the facility’s drought tolerance. We believe this will necessitate additional review of our ground water permit in South Dakota. All things considered, thinking of in-service as a range of dates to manage risks and maximize benefits for all stakeholders is the prudent thing to do,” Rolfes said.
The Big Stone II co-owners include Otter Tail Power Company, Great River Energy, Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, Central Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., Missouri River Energy Services and Heartland Consumers Power District. Together, they serve more than 2.3 million electric customers in five states.
For more information, contact: Steve Schultz, Manager, External Affairs, Big Stone II at 218-739-8916 or sschultz@otpco.com.
www.BigStoneii.com
