NYPA to Begin Equipment Tests at New Power Plant in Queens

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Michael Saltzman                        
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michael.saltzman@nypa.gov

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September 7, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

QUEENS—The New York Power Authority (NYPA) will begin testing key generating equipment Thursday at a new natural gas-fueled power plant it is completing in Astoria.

The tests will commence on one of the project’s two gas turbines, which will produce small amounts of power as the unit is fired up. Tests on the second turbine are expected late next week, to be followed by those on other major equipment in subsequent weeks.

The 500-megawatt plant will be one of the cleanest, most efficient generating facilities in New York City, equipped with the most advanced emission controls. Its commercial operation, expected toward the end of the year, will enhance air quality by displacing generation from older power plants.

The new project is designed to capture the heat normally lost during combustion, to produce additional amounts of electricity from its fuel. This will be made possible through a combined-cycle process involving two heat-recovery steam generators and a steam turbine, in addition to the two gas turbines.

The Power Authority built the combined-cycle plant to help it continue to meet the electricity requirements of its large government customers in New York City, including schools, hospitals, municipal buildings, and the subways and commuter trains. They save hundreds of millions of dollars a year in lower energy costs as NYPA customers.

NYPA is the nation’s largest state-owned public power utility, with a total of 17 generating facilities and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines.