Spiritwood Industrial Park
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Spiritwood Industrial Park is an operating power station of at least 106-megawatts (MW) in Jamestown, North Dakota, United States.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Spiritwood Industrial Park | Jamestown, North Dakota, United States | 46.925511, -98.502173 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the power station.
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- Unit 1: 46.925511, -98.502173
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | CHP | Start year | Retired year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1, timepoint 1 | Retired | coal: lignite | 106.2 | subcritical | yes[1] | 2014 | 2022 |
| Unit 1, timepoint 2 | Operating[2][3][4] | fossil gas: natural gas[5][6] | 106.2[1][7] | steam turbine[2][4] | yes[1] | 2014[2][8] | – |
CHP is an abbreviation for Combined Heat and Power. It is a technology that produces electricity and thermal energy at high efficiencies. Coal units track this information in the Captive Use section when known.
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner | Parent |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1, timepoint 1 | Great River Energy Cooperative [100%] | Great River Energy Cooperative [100.0%] |
| Unit 1, timepoint 2 | Great River Energy Cooperative [100%] | Great River Energy Cooperative [100.0%] |
Unit-level fuel conversion details:
Unit 1: Converted from coal to fossil gas in 2014.
Background
Great River Energy, a Minnesota Generation & Transmission Cooperative, used lignite from the Falkirk Mine to produce 40 MW of electricity; it was planned to also produce steam, which would be used by Spirit Ethanol and Cargill Malt.[9][10] In November 2011 Great River Energy shut down the Spiritwood Station due to economic reasons. The plant was to stay offline until at least 2013.[11]
In November 2014 the plant entered commercial operation. The plant produced between 35 and 40 MW; at full capacity, it could pump 99 MW of power into the grid. In addition to supplying electricity, the plant would also use steam energy to power an adjacent malting company and a 65 million gallon-per-year ethanol plant.[12]
Spiritwood differed from traditional electric generating plants in that its purpose was to generate both electricity and process steam. Its steam customers included Harvestone, an adjacent agriculture ethanol biorefinery. [13]
Gas-Fired Generation
In May 2020, Great River Energy reported that it is converting the Spiritwood Station from lignite to natural gas in the near future without giving a exact timeframe or deadline. The conversion of the plant coincides with the closure of the Coal Creek Station before the end of 2022. Both power stations get all their fuel from the same coal mine.[14]
Great River Energy’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), updated on March 31, 2023, mentions that Spiritwood can now generate electricity with 100% gas. The plant is currently co-firing the boiler with gas and coal based on daily economics. Due to the nature of the fluidized-bed boiler, the plant can also co-fire with biomass. GRE is currently assessing the feasibility of different biomass fuel options as well for the future. The IRP also states that Spiritwood will continue operating and has no plans for retirement.[13]
History of Spiritwood Industrial Park
In testimony before the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee On Energy and Water Development in August 2007, John Weeda, Plant Manager, Coal Creek Station, Great River Energy, stated that "fuel for the coal-based, combined heat and power plant will be beneficiated lignite, supplied by Great American Energy." Weeda stated that he hoped that the plant would be operating "in the first quarter of 2010 – following 2.5 years of construction."[15]
As a combined heat and power plant, Spiritwood Station will generate electricity for the electric grid and steam to power a neighboring malting plant and a proposed 100-million-gallon per year ethanol plant.
Construction began on November 6, 2007.[16]
The Spiritwood 99-megawatt coal-fired power plant is now under construction. It is located in the tiny community of Spiritwood, just east of Jamestown ND, and about 90 miles from the Minnesota border. It is to be operated by Great River Energy. Reportedly, the coal source will be North Dakota lignite from the Falkirk Mine near Underwood ND, which has a contract to supply GRE’s Coal Creek station. However, the plant is being built adjacent to a Burlington Northern main railroad freight line, which opens the possibility of bringing in coal from the Powder River Basin.
It remains somewhat unclear where the electricity from the plant will be shipped. According to Governor John Hoeven’s November 6, 2007 press release, the plant would provide “62 megawatts of base-load electricity to Great River Energy’s customers in Minnesota and 37 megawatts of peaking electricity for sale to the regional energy market.” A GRE power plant presentation, apparently from January, 2008, said the plant would provide 35-45 megawatts to “customers in Minnesota.” At an August 4, 2008 tour of the construction site, GRE told a Dakota Resource Council Board member that “electricity is being sold locally,” supposedly to the adjacent barley malting plant—although it is served by Otter Tail Power, not GRE.
It looks like a shell game of artificial electron separation to skirt Minnesota law.
The nature of the project has changed since its inception. The ethanol component has dropped out, at least for now. Originally, the idea was that the existing Cargill malting barley plant at the site would provide “gray water” for the ethanol plant, and the GRE coal burner would provide waste heat. The money behind the ethanol plant was Harold Newman, a Jamestown businessman who made his fortune in billboards.
Newman announced in July that he was putting the ethanol plant on hold because high corn prices made it non-competitive. He also acknowledged that there was not enough water available locally for both the power plant and the ethanol facility. It appears now that the coal burner will get the Cargill gray water and intends to supplement it with water from the Jamestown municipal water treatment facility, but the deal has not yet been announced.
It may be possible that the coal plant will not obtain enough water to operate at full capacity and may have to modify its plans. However, there appear to be no regulatory handles in North Dakota to stop it. The 99-megawatt size was picked to keep it one megawatt below the threshold for a state siting permit. Dakota Resource Council has recently opposed other air quality permits (Gascoyne, the original South Heart proposed coal burner, the Red Trail Energy ethanol plant in Richardton) based on their reliance on North Dakota’s controversial Prevention of Significant Deterioration modeling protocols. DRC discussed this type of opposition to Spiritwood, but it is too far away to impact Class I airsheds, and DRC did not submit comments. In December of 2007, DRC asked to reopen the comment period based on the removal of the Maximum Achievable Control Technology requirements from the draft permit, and the reclassification of the facility from a major source of hazardous air pollutants to a minor source. The state Department of Health denied DRC's request.
Contact details
Website: http://www.greatriverenergy.com
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20211205204607/https://greatriverenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/052918-spiritwood-fact-sheet.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 05 December 2021.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|archive-date=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 https://web.archive.org/web/20230918190319/https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860m/archive/xls/may_generator2023.xlsx. Archived from the original on 18 September 2023.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20230525153822/https://greatriverenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-IRP-FINAL.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2023.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20230331174940/https://greatriverenergy.com/company-news/report-details-power-supply-plans/. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20221010223402/http://www.startribune.com/minnesota-s-great-river-energy-closing-coal-plant-switching-to-two-thirds-wind-power/570276822/. Archived from the original on 10 October 2022.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20210917200623/https://www.jamestownsun.com/business/energy-and-mining/6482711-Spiritwood-Station-converting-to-natural-gas. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20211122185052/https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860m/archive/xls/july_generator2021.xlsx. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/business/north-dakotas-largest-coal-fired-power-plant-will-shut-down-in-2022-unless-new-buyer-can-be-found.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "EIA 923 March 2020" EIA 923 2020.
- ↑ "Hoeven Announces $350 Million Spiritwood Industrial Park", Press release by North Dakota Governor’s Office, May 8, 2006.
- ↑ "Brand new power plant is idled by the economy" David Shaffer, Star Tribune, November 29, 2011.
- ↑ "ND’s newest power plant now running," The Bismarck Tribune, Nov 3, 2014
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "2023-2037 Integrated Resource Plan" (PDF). Greta River Energy. March 31, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Hughlett, Mike (May 7, 2020). "Minnesota's Great River Energy closing coal plant, switching to two-thirds wind power". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
- ↑ John Weeda, Plant Manager, Coal Creek Station,Great River Energy, Underwood, North Dakota, Testimony to the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee On Energy and Water Development, August 13, 2007.
- ↑ "Ground broken for energy complex at Spiritwood, N.D.", KXMC website, November 6, 2007.
Additional data
To access additional data, including interactive maps of the power stations, downloadable datasets, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker and the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
