Avant Energy Services and the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency retained Barr to assist with developing the 46 MW Shakopee Energy Park power plant. During periods of high energy use, the plant delivers “peaking” power directly to the local utility’s distribution system.
With five 9.3 MW fuel-efficient, natural-gas-fired reciprocating engines, the facility can start up in just a few minutes to even out the intermittent power supplied by wind and solar developments. For added reliability, the plant uses liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a backup fuel; if natural gas use is curtailed due to high regional demand, the facility can vaporize LNG and burn that. As a bonus, waste heat captured from the engines warms the facility and incoming natural gas; supports the LNG vaporization process; and can provide local businesses with heat.
Barr’s contributions to Shakopee Energy Park—which was named a “top natural gas plant” in 2017 by Power magazine—included preparing air-emission calculations and an air permit application; performing air-dispersion modeling; developing a risk assessment spreadsheet; and providing responses to several sections of the project’s Minnesota Environmental Assessment Worksheet.
After the air permit was issued and the plant constructed, Barr performed additional dispersion modeling to reflect the facility’s as-built drawings. We also conducted an air-emissions inventory and helped solve operational issues with one of the generators.
(photo shown above from Avant Energy Services)