Great River Energy to Build Elk River Peaking Plant, Study Additional Power Generation Proposals

ELK RIVER, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Great River Energy continues taking steps to meet the future energy needs of its 28 member cooperatives. After careful consideration, Great River Energy has decided to pursue building its own peaking power plant to meet the need for peaking resources by 2009. The decision was based on information received through a request for proposals (RFP) for conventional generation resources issued last April.

Great River Energy proposes building a 160-megawatt (MW) simple-cycle combustion turbine at its Elk River site. The project was selected based on its cost, its access to the transmission system and its access to a natural gas supply. Great River Energy anticipates seeking board approval in February 2007 for the project. The natural gas peaking plant would begin operation in spring 2009, pending permitting and other processes.

In addition, Great River Energy will continue negotiations with a number of possible projects to determine which will best meet the organization’s needs for intermediate resources by 2010. These projects include:

• Two generation proposals to be built by Great River Energy on a site in Rosemount, Minn. One of the proposals is for a combined-cycle project; the other involves the use of high efficiency simple-cycle equipment.
• A second combined-cycle unit at Calpine Corporation’s Mankato, Minn., Energy Center.
• A northern Minnesota combined-cycle power plant project proposed by Minnesota Power.
• A proposed purchase from Manitoba Hydro.

In the meantime, Great River Energy continues to add wind energy to its portfolio. Great River Energy signed a purchase power agreement in September with Horizon Wind Energy to purchase 100 MW of wind energy from a project under development in Mower County, Minnesota.

Great River Energy (www.greatriverenergy.com) is a not-for-profit generation and transmission cooperative providing wholesale electric energy and related services to 28 distribution cooperatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin serving more than 600,000 members, or approximately 1.7 million people. It is the second largest power supplier in the state of Minnesota, and the fourth largest cooperative of its type in the nation.