Burlington Station, located near Burlington, Colo., is a 100-megawatt, oil-fired combustion turbine plant wholly owned and operated by Tri-State and primarily used for back-up generation. The plant’s two turbines, which are remotely started from Tri-State's operations center in Westminster, Colo., can be brought on line in a matter of minutes to augment the association’s baseload resources.
Plant Statistics
Plant owner and operator |
Tri-State G&T |
Plant construction |
1977 |
| Total project cost |
not available |
Total capacity |
100 megawatts (two 50-megawatt combustion turbine units) |
Fuel source |
No. 2 diesel fuel from on-site storage tanks |
Plant site size |
not available |
Environmental
controls |
system is compliant with federal and state laws |
Limon Generating Station is located on the eastern plains of Colorado near Limon, 70 miles east of Denver. Completion of the two, natural-gas-fired combustion turbine units marked the first new generation to be built by Tri-State in nearly 20 years.
Plant Statistics
Plant owner and operator |
Tri-State G&T |
Plant construction |
2001-2002 |
| Total project cost |
$82.4 million |
Total capacity |
140 megawatts
(two 70-megawatt combustion turbine units) |
Fuel source |
Natural gas and fuel oil |
Plant site size |
652 acres |
Environmental
controls |
Dry low-NOx combustion |
Frank R. Knutson Generating Station, located near Brighton, Colo., is similar in design to the Limon Generating Station. Just north of Denver International Airport, the two, dual-fuel (natural gas and oil) combustion turbine units added 140 megawatts of power to the association's system. Although the units are primarily fueled by natural gas, they also are designed to run on fuel oil when unfavorable pricing or an availability problem occurs.
Plant Statistics
Plant owner and operator |
Tri-State G&T |
Plant construction |
2001-2002 |
| Total project cost |
$85 million |
Total capacity |
140 megawatts (two 70-megawatt combustion turbine units) |
Fuel source |
Natural gas and fuel oil |
Plant site size |
110 acres |
Environmental
controls |
Dry low-NOx combustion |
Rifle Generating Station, located on Colorado's Western Slope near the town of Rifle, became a Tri-State asset in September 2002. This generating facility is an 85-megawatt, gas-fired, combined-cycle power plant that, prior to Tri-State's ownership, was known as American Atlas No. 1. As a combined-cycle plant, Rifle Generating Station is best described as an intermediate peaking resource, meaning that its energy would be dispatched after coal-based unit resources like Craig and Nucla stations, but before resources like Limon and Brighton (Colo.) Generating Stations.
Plant Statistics
Plant owner and operator |
Tri-State G&T |
Plant construction |
1986 |
| Total project cost |
not available |
Total capacity |
85 megawatts (three 15-megawatt, gas/combustion turbine units; one 40-megawatt, steam turbine that runs off of a heat recovery cogeneration boiler) |
Fuel source |
Natural gas and fuel oil |
Plant site size |
110 acres |
Environmental
controls |
Dry low-NOx combustion |
Pyramid Generating Station, located 30 miles southeast of Lordsburg in southwestern New Mexico, became commercially available in 2003. The four, 40-megawatt, natural gas-fired combustion turbines are based on jet aircraft engine design and can be started and ramped to full load in approximately 10 minutes. Pyramid assists in serving Tri-State's southern system loads and provides backup generation when the G&T's baseload, coal-fired Escalante Generating Station in northern New Mexico is unavailable.
Plant Statistics
Plant owner and operator |
Tri-State G&T |
Plant construction |
2002-2003 |
| Total project cost |
$113 million |
Total capacity |
160 megawatts (four, 40-megawatt combustion turbine units) |
Fuel source |
Natural gas and fuel oil |
Plant site size |
638 acres |
Environmental
controls |
Water injection to control NOx emissions |
