On June 15, 1998, the Pittsburg District Energy Facility, Limited Liability
Company (LLC), filed an Application for Certification (AFC) with the California
Energy to construct and operate the Pittsburg District Energy Facility (PDEF
-- Now called the Los Medanos Power Plant).
The PDEF will be providing process steam to USS-Posco Industries. Electrical
energy produced from the proposed power plant will be sold to California's
regional power pool and other electricity consumers. The PDEF electric
generating plant and related facilities, such as the electric transmission line,
natural gas pipeline and water lines are under the Energy Commission's
jurisdiction. The power plant certification process examines engineering and
environmental aspects of power plant proposals, and contains requirements
similar to those contained in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
The PDEF is proposed to be located on a 12-acre site on East 3rd Street,
west of the intersection of East 3rd and Columbia in the City of Pittsburg, in
eastern Contra Costa County. The site is on the northwest corner of property
owned by USS-Posco Industries.
The applicant has proposed a combined cycle combustion turbine generator
(CTG) design with a nominal capacity of 555 megawatts (MW). The design would
consist of two trains of "F" class CTG machines with either one or two steam
turbine generators. Natural gas is burned in the combustion turbine generators,
which converts the thermal energy into mechanical energy required to drive the
compressor and electric generator. The combustion turbine trains will include
exhaust stacks and step-up transformers, heat recovery steam generator (HRSG)
units, steam turbine generator units and their transformers, and water treatment
and cooling towers. A 115 kilovolt (kV) high voltage switchyard will be located
on the west side of the project site. Reclaimed water for turbine cooling will
be supplied from the Delta Diablo Wastewater Treatment Facility located in the
City of Antioch. Estimated cost of the project are between $200 & $300 million.
In support of the City of Pittsburg's effort to reroute existing marine
terminal truck traffic as well as provide improved access to the project site,
the PDEF project has sponsored and will construct a new Truck Bypass Road which
will be approximately.75 mile long. It will connect East 14th Street, near the
existing intersection of Columbia Street and East 14th, to Harbor Street, near
the existing intersection of East Santa Fe Avenue and Harbor.
Nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from the combustion process will be reduced
to 2.5 parts-per-million by volume dry (ppmvd), or less, at 15 percent oxygen by
utilizing dry low NOx combustion technology and a selective catalytic reduction
(SCR) system . The SCR system will use aqueous ammonia for the reduction
process.
Linear electric facilities associated with the project include: a new 2.5
mile double circuit 115 kV overhead/underground electric transmission line to connect the
project to Pacific Gas & Electric's (PG&E) existing Pittsburg Power Plant Switchyard;
and a new 1.2 mile single circuit 115 kV line to connect the PDEF with the USS-Posco
Industries plant. Sections of these new lines will parallel existing 115 kV
lines.
Pipeline facilities associated with the project include: a potable water
supply line approximately 500 feet long; a gas pipeline approximately 3.6 miles
long; a sewer line approximately 500 feet long; and a reclaimed water line
approximately 2 miles long. All of the pipeline facilities will be buried
underground. The engineering and environmental details of the proposed project
are contained in the AFC.
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