Turbine arrives at Turtle Creek Station

November 10, 2025 | Julie Wasson | generation, reliability

Crews from multiple organizations work together to move a 225-megawatt turbine to Turtle Creek Station in Sarpy County. Photo by Danielle Beebe

Early this morning, OPPD’s new 560,000-pound natural gas turbine made its way from Gretna to Turtle Creek Station (TCS).

The Siemens F-Class dual-fuel combustion turbine unit arrived in Gretna after a weeks-long journey from Berlin, where it was manufactured. The unit is roughly as heavy as a fully loaded Boeing 787, compacted into the size of a school bus.

OPPD crews and partners temporarily moved traffic lights, electrical lines and other barriers on the route to Turtle Creek Station. Photo by Danielle Beebe

The turbine dodged two hurricanes on its transatlantic journey. Once it arrived by rail in Gretna, it was transferred to a heavy-haul truck and trailer half the length of a football field then delivered to the site.

This is the first of four new turbines – and 15 large-equipment deliveries in total – destined for Turtle Creek Station and Cass County Station. The equipment is part of OPPD’s multiyear, multimillion-dollar capital investment plan.

Crews from multiple organizations worked together on the move. They temporarily moved power lines and traffic lights to provide clearance for the turbine. Photo by Danielle Beebe

“The size and scale of the work happening at OPPD right now is unprecedented,” said Dannie Buelt, senior director of Major Projects. “We’re growing our infrastructure at a historic pace.”

The turbine crawled at five mph for the final stretch of its journey, escorted by law enforcement agencies. OPPD teams and partners were on hand to manage the move. Their duties included moving electrical wires and other barriers in the path of the truck.

Growing to meet demand

TCS began commercial operation over the summer; the two natural gas units operating there now have the capacity to generate 450 megawatts (MW) of electricity. The units have dual-fuel capability. They can run on fuel oil when natural gas supplies are scarce or when it makes more sense financially to do so.

OPPD is partnering with Kiewit Corporation to add this 225 MW natural gas turbine at TCS and three other 225 MW generating units Cass County Station.

The trailer carrying the turbine makes its way through a closed intersection early Monday morning. Photo courtesy of the Nebraska State Patrol

Together, these four new generation turbines will add 900 MW of generation capacity to OPPD’s portfolio. That is roughly equal to the peak summer load in the city of Lincoln.

The projects are part of OPPD’s work to add 2.5 gigawatts of power over the next decade to meet the growing demand for electricity across the utility’s 13-county footprint.

OPPD expects the new unit to come online at TCS by the end of 2028.

About Julie Wasson

Julie Wasson is the brand journalism strategist at Omaha Public Power District and the editor of The Wire. She has more than 25 years of print journalism and social media experience, including two stints at the Omaha World-Herald.

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