Natural Gas

Louisa Power Station

Commencing commercial operation in 2003, the Louisa Power Station in Louisa County, Virginia, operates five simple-cycle combustion turbines with a total potential output of 510 megawatts. Each compressor, turbine and generator unit works by igniting a mixture of compressed ambient air and fuel into an expanded gas to drive the turbine that drives the generator to produce electricity. Natural gas is the primary fuel; however, the facility operates on low-sulfur fuel oil when supplies of natural gas are restrained or otherwise unavailable.

Gas-fired, combustion-turbine stations continually prove their worth on the hottest and coldest days of the year. They produce power quickly and with low emissions, which makes them ideal peak-generation power plants.

Electricity from Louisa Power Station serves eight ODEC member cooperatives on the Virginia mainland.

Marsh Run Power Station

Located on a Fauquier County, Virginia site chosen for its proximity to major natural gas and electrical transmission corridors, Marsh Run began generating electricity in the fall of 2004.
 
Gas-fired combustion turbines, such as those at Marsh Run, are ideal because they are able to produce electricity quickly to meet peak-power requirements with low emissions when the demand for electricity is the greatest, like on the hottest and coldest days of the year. Each turbine unit has its own stack, generator and step-up transformer; and each combines compressed air with fuel – primarily natural gas, with low-sulfur fuel oil maintained at the facility as a backup – and combusts this mixture to run a turbine-driven electromagnetic generator. The station can produce a full 510 megawatts of electricity with low CO2 emissions.

A unique aspect of Marsh Run is its use of water. Instead of tapping the local groundwater supply to increase the efficiency of turbine output, the station uses reclaimed water discharged by the Fauquier County Water and Sanitation Authority, thereby safeguarding the water quality of the nearby Rappahannock River and groundwater resources in the county.

Rock Springs Generation Facility

Commencing operations in 2003, this four unit-combustion-turbine, 680-megawatt power facility has the best available emission-control technology for this type of station.

Ownership is shared. ODEC and North American Energy Alliance, LLC (NAEA) each own two combustion-turbine units, with the balance of the facility jointly owned by both companies.

On summer and winter peak-demand days, Rock Springs produces cost-effective, environmentally friendly, reliable electricity for the three ODEC member distribution cooperatives on the Delmarva Peninsula: Choptank Electric Cooperative headquartered in Denton, Maryland; Delaware Electric Cooperative headquartered in Greenwood, Delaware; and A&N Electric Cooperative headquartered in Tasley, Virginia. The three cooperatives serve more than 170,000 consumers in rural and developing suburban communities in one of the fastest-growing regions on the East Coast.

Louisa Power Station

Marsh Run Power Station

Rock Springs Generation Facility