Powering a Community's Growth: New Generac gen-sets expand power capacity, aims to help attract new industry to eastern Iowa town

Diesel Progress North American Edition, Nov, 2001 by Dave Bode

As the city of Maquoketa, Iowa, expands, its need for reliable power continues to grow. In response to the demand for more power, the Maquoketa Municipal Electric Utility (MMEU) recently commissioned its new Power Plant No. 2 featuring a pair of 2000 kW (2 MW) Generac generator sets and Generac-built switchgear.

In conjunction with the commissioning, Generac Power Systems Inc., the supplier of the gen-sets and switchgear, celebrated the grand opening of its new 145,000 sq.ft. manufacturing facility in Maquoketa's newest industrial park. Indeed, MMEU's Power Plant No. 2 is located in the industrial park across the street from the Waukesha, Wis.-based company's new plant, where it provides standby power to both the 170-acre Highway 61 Industrial Park and town. The plant will also be used by MMEU to supply electricity upon demand to the regional power pool of which it is a member.

Maquoketa is located on Iowa's eastern edge, midway between the metropolitan areas of Dubuque some 30 miles to the north, and the Quad Cities 40 miles to the south. Its current population is around 6000, and the city is striving to attract new businesses and jobs.

"This facility will greatly expand our standby generating capacity and allow us to serve the new industrial park, as well as contribute to our regional power pool," said Doug Owen, MMEU utility manager. "With the expandable Generac system, we can add additional units and Generac switchgear as needed. We initially started with two units, and two more identical units will be installed later this year; we're hoping to have the first two units manufactured by the new Generac plant'

"The MMEU facility is a great example of Generac's large gen-set capabilities," said Generac President William Treffert. "It's the kind of project that allows us to showcase the quality of our equipment, as well as our expertise, in supplying a complete package that meets the needs of the customer.

"The MMEU installation shows how a properly configured power system can be easily expanded, with additional gensets and switchgear able to be added as needed. This kind of flexibility is a real plus for the customer, whose future needs may be uncertain or open-ended."

Owen believes that Power Plant No. 2 was an important factor in helping to attract a new 907,000 sq.ft. Family Dollar Stores regional distribution center to the new industrial park. Family Dollar, headquartered in Matthews, N.C., and one of the nation's fastest growing discount chains, plans to hire approximately 500 employees at the fully automated distribution facility and invest at least $50 million in the project, which is expected to be fully operational by August 1, 2002.

Established in 1919 and presently serving 3400 customers, the MMEU provides electric distribution and standby power generation services, with Maquoketa owning and maintaining the entire system. Total generation capacity is now 23.25 MW, with 19.25 MW being supplied by Power Plant No. 1's nine diesel and dual-fuel (diesel and natural gas) engines -- one of which dates back to 1938.

Maquoketa is currently a member of the Resale Power Group of Iowa (RPGI) power pool, which bids for power for resale to its 28 member utilities in roughly the eastern half of Iowa. Under the present agreement through RPGJ, Maquoketa purchases wholesale power for resale from MidAmerican Energy Company.

MMEU's power generation capacity is designed to provide power to the entire city of Maquoketa, including the new Highway 61 Industrial Park on the outskirts south of town, in the event its wholesale power supply is interrupted due to an emergency situation or if the RPGI requires a power curtailment. The utility has also contracted with the RPGI to generate a specified amount of power on demand for up to 200 hours annually, which the RPGI then resells into the grid at a better price than Maquoketa could typically obtain selling it locally according to Owen.

Each new Generac model SD2000, 2000 kW, 15 kV, 60 Hz unit at Power Plant No. 2 features a liquid-cooled, four-cycle Mitsubishi S16R-PTAA2, 16-cylinder vee-configuration, turbocharged-aftercooled diesel engine driving a Generac Power Systems generator. Other gen-set equipment includes Covrad Heat Transfer engine cooling radiator, GT Exhaust Systems silencers, Exide starting batteries and Generac battery charging system. In contrast to Power Plant No. 1, where the gen-sets must be started manually the Power Plant No. 2 units are designed to be started manually, remotely or automatically, as required.

Each Generac gen-set at Power Plant No. 2 is housed in a weatherproof enclosure manufactured by Professional Power Products, Harvard, Ill. Under each unit is a 3800 gal. capacity double-wall fuel tank for round-the-clock operation if necessary.

Where maintenance is concerned, routine maintenance of the Generac units will be handled by the MMEU. Major maintenance and service items will be handled by Tri-City Electric, the Generac dealer in Davenport, Iowa.

Owen noted that the MMEU selected Generac because the utility was familiar enough with Generac and its products and services to know that the company could handle the entire project on a turnkey basis. "We knew they could provide us with SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) software, the switchgear, the generator packages -- basically a turnkey package where they handle everything," he said, "and design the system to meet all our requirements."