The evenings of Sunday, Oct. 30 and Tuesday, Nov. 1, respectively, Omaha Public Power District will begin moving a generator and turbine to Turtle Creek Station (TCS), one of two new natural gas generation balancing plants currently under construction. This will happen once more on dates yet to be determined in December.
The new plants are part of OPPD’s Power with Purpose (PwP) initiative to add a total of 600 megawatts (MW) of utility-scale solar and 600 MW of natural gas generation. The gas plants will be used as needed, per market conditions (estimated to be about 15% of the time). OPPD’s diverse energy mix will help us power our growing communities, prioritizing reliability and resiliency, while continuing our commitment to net zero carbon by 2050.
The moves involve two simple-cycle combustion turbines and two generators from Siemens Energy, as well as related equipment. This technology converts natural gas into energy to drive a generator, which powers electricity. One of the turbines loaded on a trailer weighs about 862,000 pounds. Together, the truck and trailer set-up is 196-feet long.
One turbine and one generator arrived last week by rail to a local rail spur location. The work to move the units to Turtle Creek Station is scheduled at night to cause minimal traffic disruption, as brief road closures may be needed. OPPD and our contracted large equipment movers have coordinated with city, county and state officials, as well as members of law enforcement, to ensure the safety of the public and workers along the route.
If members of the public come across this move, we ask that they refrain from approaching employees, contractors or vehicles and stay far back from the work taking place so that we can complete it safely.
An additional turbine and generator are scheduled to arrive in December, at which point, we will commence another heavy move to TCS. We are committed to keeping the public informed on this progress. To learn more about our natural gas and solar projects, visit OPPDCommunityConnect.com.