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About Great River Energy

Great River Energy is a not-for-profit electric cooperative owned by its 28 member cooperatives. We generate and transmit electricity for those members, located in the outer-ring suburbs of the Twin Cities up to the Arrowhead region of Minnesota and down to the farmland region in the southwestern portion of the state.

General

Member cooperatives: 28

Employees: Approximately 900

Headquarters:

12300 Elm Creek Boulevard

Maple Grove, Minnesota 55369-4718

Phone: 763/445-5000

Fax: 763/445-5050

Financial Highlights (for 2009)

Revenue: $787.8 million

Total assets: $3.1 billion

Electric plant investment (net): $2.4 billion

Long-term debt: $2.4 billion

Great River Energy share of taxes paid:

Personal property and real estate: $16.0 million

Generation tax (North Dakota): $6.9 million

Coal severance tax (North Dakota): $3.9 million

Payroll, sales and other taxes: $15.5 million

Total taxes paid $42.3 million

Total 2009 Sales

14,326,476 megawatt-hours

(11,846,365 megawatt-hours sold to members)

Generation Capability*
 

Coal Creek Station, Underwood, N.D.

1,129 MW

Lakefield Junction Station, Martin County, Minn.

503 MW

Pleasant Valley Station, Mower County, Minn.

423 MW

Stanton Station, Stanton, N.D.

188 MW

Cambridge Station, Cambridge, Minn.

174 MW

Elk River Peaking Station, Elk River, Minn.

179 MW (online July 2009)

Genoa 3, near LaCrosse, Wis.

166 MW

St. Bonifacius Peaking Plant, St. Bonifacius, Minn.

56 MW

Elk River Station, Elk River, Minn.

33 MW

Rock Lake Peaking Plant, Pine City, Minn.

21 MW

Maple Lake Peaking Plant, Maple Lake, Minn.

19 MW

Arrowhead Emergency Generation Station, Colvill, Minn.

18 MW

Trimont Wind Purchase, Southwestern Minn.

100 MW (nameplate)

Elm Creek Wind Purchase, Southwestern Minn.

100 MW (nameplate)

Prairie Star Wind Purchase, Southeastern Minn.

100 MW (nameplate)

Wind Energy Purchases, Southern Minn.

18 MW (nameplate)

*Excludes power purchases totaling 92 MW (summer rating) from the Western Area Power Administration and other power purchases.

Transmission Assets

 
Voltage
Mileage

69 kV or less

2,988

115 kV

420

161 kV

46

230 kV

523

345 kV

75

500 kV

70

Total AC transmission

4,122

±400 kV DC

436

Total transmission line

4,558

Total transmission substations
(owned or partially owned by Great River Energy)

105

HVDC Line

The ±400-kV High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission system delivers electricity from Coal Creek Station in central North Dakota to the Dickinson converter terminal near Delano, Minn. Availability: Since its commissioning in the late 1970s, the availability of the HVDC system has been better than 99 percent. The system has been one of the most reliable HVDC systems in the world.

Load Management

 
Load Type
No. Controllable

Space heating

77,300

Water heating

105,220

Air conditioning & heat pumps

146,744

Ground-source heat pump

1,364

Irrigation

2,920

Curtailable commercial and industrial

1,305

Maximum load management summer control capability:

360 MW

Maximum load management winter control capability:

320 MW

Member Co-op Summary

Number of member/consumers: 645,000

Sales to members: 11,846,365 kilowatt hours

Total distribution line: 87,000 miles

Average density: 7.4 consumers/mile

Distribution substations: 548

Combined annual revenue: $1.15 billion

Electric plant in service (net): $1.7 billion

Average kWh per consumer: 19,100/year

Distribution employees: 1,725

Systemwide load characteristics:*

Residential: 57.3%

Seasonal: 2.4%

Commercial and industrial: 40.3%

*Based on energy sales

More about Baseload Generation

Coal Creek Station

Location: Underwood, N.D.

Generating capability: 1,129 MW

Start of operation: Unit 1-1979; Unit 2-1980

Plant site: 3,370 acres

Lignite consumption: Up to 950 tons per hour;

7.5 million tons per year

Water source: Missouri River

Water consumption: Up to 14,300 gallons per minute; 15,000 acre/ft. per year maximum

Steam generators (boilers): Produce 3.7 million pounds of steam per hour.
Furnace size: 96’ x 43’ x 205’

Height of steam generator building: 295 feet

Chimney height: 650 feet

Turbine/generators: General Electric tandem compound reheat turbines with double-flow low-pressure sections; 18 stages; 3,600 rpm.

Generator is 22,000 volts. Stator and rotor weigh 500 tons.

Cooling towers: Three cooling towers, each 42 feet high and

225 feet in diameter, equipped with eight fans with 28-foot diameter.

Electrostatic precipitators: Remove more than 99.5 percent of fly ash.

Flue gas desulphurization (scrubbers): Wet lime countercurrent spray towers remove 95 percent of SO2 from 75 percent of the gas.

Architect/Engineer: Black & Veatch

DryFiningTM system: In 2009, Coal Creek Station installed a coal drying system that reduces the moisture and refines lignite using waste heat from the plant. As a result of the moisture reduction an refining, efficiency and emissions performance are improved.

Stanton Station

Location: Stanton, N.D.

Generating capability: 188 MW

Start of operation: Unit 1 - 1966; Unit 10 - 1982

Plant site: 250 acres

Powder River coal consumption: 2,500 tons per day

Number of boilers: 2

Number of turbine generators: 1

Chimney height: 255 feet

Transmission voltage (AC): 230,000

Elk River Energy Recovery Station

Location: Elk River, Minn.

Generating capability: 30 MW

Initial operation: Units 1 & 2 in 1951; Unit 3 in 1959

Fuel used: Since construction in the early 1950s, Elk River Energy Recovery Station has used multiple energy sources, including coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear, tire-derived fuel and wood chips. Since 1989 it has been converting the energy from refuse-derived fuel, a renewable energy source.

RDF consumption: 1,000 tons per day.

Landfill waste reduced: 300,000 tons per year.

CO2 emissions avoided: 140,000 tons per year.

Electrical production: 170,000 tons per year.

More about Peaking Facilities

Lakefield Junction Station

Location: Martin County, Minn.

Generating capability: 488 MW (summer)

Fuel source: Natural gas; backup, fuel oil

Turbine generators: Six combustion turbines manufactured by General Electric (6xMS7001EA)

Start of operation: 2001

Project site: 150 acres

Elk River Peaking Station

Location: Elk River, MN

Generating Capacity: 175 MW (summer)

Fuel source: Natural gas; backup, fuel oil

Turbine generator: One combustion turbine manufactured by Siemens (SGT6-5000F4)

Start of operation: 2009

Project site: 20 acres

Pleasant Valley Station

Location: Mower County, Minn.

Generating capability: 412 MW (summer)

Fuel source: Natural gas; backup, fuel oil

Turbine generators: Three combustion turbines manufactured by Siemens Westinghouse (2xV84.3A2, 1x501D5A)

Start of Operation: Units 11 and 12 - 2001; Unit 13 - 2002

Project site: 160 acres

Cambridge Station

Location: Cambridge, Minn.

Generating capability: Unit 1: 21 MW (summer); Unit 2: 154 MW (summer)

Fuel source: Fuel oil (Unit 1), and natural gas (Unit 2)

Turbine generators: Two combustion turbines, Unit 1 manufactured by GE (MS5001) and Unit 2 manufactured by Siemens (SGT6-4000F)

Project site: 23 acres

St. Bonifacius Station

Location: St. Bonifacius, Minn.

Generating capability: 56 MW (summer)

Fuel source: Fuel oil

Turbine generator: Two aero-derivative combustion turbines manufactured by Pratt & Whitney coupled to a single generator

Rock Lake Station

Location: Pine City, Minn.

Generating capability: 21 MW (summer)

Fuel source: Fuel oil

Turbine Generator: One combustion turbine manufactured by GE (MS5001)

Maple Lake Station

Location: Maple Lake, Minn.

Generating capability: 19 MW (summer)

Fuel source: Fuel oil

Turbine generator: One combustion turbine manufactured by GE (MS5001)

Arrowhead Emergency Generation Station

Location: Cook County, Minn.

Generating capability: 18 MW

Fuel source: Fuel oil

Engines: Nine 2-MW Cummins emergency diesel generators

Start of operation: May 2009

Project site: 20 acres

Wind Energy

Trimont Wind

Location: Southwestern Minn.

Purchase: 100 MW (nameplate)

Turbine: 67 General Electric (GE Wind) 1.5 megawatt wind turbines

Elm Creek Wind

Location: Southwestern Minn.

Purchase: 100 MW (nameplate)

Turbine: 66 General Electric (GE Wind) 1.5 megawatt wind turbines

Prairie Star Wind

Location: Southeastern Minn.

Purchase: 100 MW (nameplate)

Turbine: 61 Vestas 1.65-MW wind turbines

Other wind energy purchases: 18 MW (nameplate) from three Minnesota wind farms.

Location: Jackson, Dodge and Murray counties.

Wellspring® Wind Energy Program

Program guidelines: Wellspring Wind Energy is sold to co-op members who voluntarily choose the amount of renewable energy they want to buy. Wellspring subscribers help to bring additional renewable energy resources online.

Participants: 6,628 co-op members.

Blue Flint Ethanol

A joint venture between Great River Energy and Headwaters Incorporated.

Location: Underwood, N.D.

Production capability: 58 million-gallon per year dry mill ethanol plant

Start of operation: February 2007

Heat source: Coal Creek Station

Corn consumption: 20 million bushels per year

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