Basin Electric Power Cooperative - July 27, 2010
Bismarck, N.D. – Construction began today on the Deer Creek Station near White, S.D. The Deer Creek Station will be a 300-megawatt, natural gas-fired, combined cycle power plant located southeast of White, near Brookings.
Separate “Record of Decisions” for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) were issued by the Western Area Power Administration and the Rural Utilities Service, June 30, 2010, and July 15, 2010, respectively. The Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision was published in the Federal Register today.
Publishing the Notice of Availability was the last of several regulatory procedures needed before construction could begin. A Permit to Construct was issued by the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources June 29, 2010. Other requirements in the permitting process included two from the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission – an Energy Conversion Facility Siting Permit and another siting permit for the associated natural gas pipeline required to bring fuel to the plant (both were issued May 18, 2010).
Gavin McCollam, Basin Electric manager of performance and mechanical engineering and Deer Creek Station project coordinator, said construction of the $405-million power plant will take about two years. It’s scheduled to be operational in mid-2012. McCollam says at the peak of construction, anticipated to occur the summer of 2011, about 350 workers will be at the site.
The Deer Creek Station, under development since 2007, will be Basin Electric’s first combined cycle power plant. It will use two turbine-generator sets: one fired by natural gas, the other powered by steam created from the exhaust heat of the gas turbine. Natural gas for the power plant will come from the Northern Border Pipeline, located 14 miles to the north, via a 10-inch diameter pipeline to be constructed for the station. McCollam says the plant will have about 30 full-time employees.
The Deer Creek Station will be an integral part of a power supply network providing electricity to 135 rural electric systems in nine states. Two of the distribution cooperatives in eastern South Dakota include H-D Electric Cooperative, Clear Lake, S.D., and Sioux Valley Energy, Colman, S.D. The electricity produced by Basin Electric is provided to H-D Electric and Sioux Valley Energy through East River Electric Power Cooperative, Madison, S.D.
