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About our combustion turbines

Great River Energy owns and operates four combustion turbine plants located to the north and west of the Twin Cities area.

These units, like Pleasant Valley and Lakefield Junction Stations, are simple cycle combustion turbines. The combustion turbine stations are staffed with three skilled operator technicians who operate and maintain the four stations. These facilities run on fuel oil.

• St. Bonifacius, located in St. Bonifacius, Minnesota, has a generation capability of 56 megawatts. The station is comprised of two combustion turbines connected to a single generator. St. Bonifacius has the ability to operate a number of hours in synchronous condenser mode. This allows the plant to carry operating reserves as well as voltage support for the electrical grid. The turbines at St. Bonfacius were originally developed as large aircraft engines which were modified to provide power generation;
• Rock Lake, located in Pine City, Minnesota, has a generation capability of 22 megawatts;
• Maple Lake, located in Maple Lake, Minnesota, has a generation capability of 22 megawatts; and
• Cambridge Station Unit I, located in Cambridge, Minnesota, has a generation capability of 22 megawatts.

The facts

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)

Cambridge Station – Unit 1

Location: Cambridge, Minn.

Generating capability: Unit 1: 21 MW (summer)

Fuel source: Fuel oil

Turbine generators: Two combustion turbines, Unit 1 manufactured by GE (MS5001)

Project site: 23 acres