General

OPPD celebrates Turtle Creek Station, its newest natural gas plant 

The newest natural gas plant in OPPD’s energy portfolio was celebrated Thursday as a much-needed addition to meet rising demand for reliable, affordable and sustainable electricity. 

Dozens of dignitaries, visitors and OPPD employees hailed the recent opening of Turtle Creek Station (TCS) as a landmark moment for eastern Nebraska. OPPD marked the event with a ribbon-cutting for two new generation units at the station and a groundbreaking for the expansion of a third unit. 

TCS has the capacity to generate 450 megawatts of electricity. 

“This new generation marks a big milestone in OPPD’s efforts to expand and diversify our energy portfolio and serve all customers throughout eastern Nebraska,” said OPPD President and CEO Javier Fernandez. “As demand for electricity grows, we’re stepping up to deliver reliable, affordable and sustainable energy services.” 

Boosting economic development

The ribbon cutting at TCS drew dignitaries including Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, Papillion Mayor David Black, OPPD Board of Directors Chair Matt Core and Greater Omaha Chamber President Heath Mello. 

“Nebraska is facing unprecedented electricity demand growth,” said Pillen. “Base load generation additions such as Turtle Creek Station ensure that we keep the lights on and is key to boosting capacity for new business and economic development.” 

The plant is part of OPPD’s work to grow and diversify its energy portfolio and serve increasing customer demand. The utility is seeing record load growth as more customers, big and small, set up service in eastern Nebraska. 

“Thanks to OPPD’s strategic leadership and long-term vision, this critical infrastructure investment will help power the next generation of economic development and innovation in Greater Omaha,” said Heath Mello, president and CEO of the Greater Omaha Chamber. “It is a powerful reminder of the unique advantage we hold as the nation’s only all-public power state. Investments like this fuel our competitiveness, attract business and create prosperity across our region.” 

Ensuring reliability

TCS will also help OPPD’s efforts to meet new regional regulatory requirements within the Southwest Power Pool to ensure a reliable, resilient electrical grid throughout the Midwest and beyond. The combination of renewables, storage and natural gas is the most economical way to achieve these goals. 

The stations are critical for winter reliability and can start up quickly when needed to meet sudden spikes in demand. Unlike other sources that might take hours to generate at full capacity, each turbine offers rapid startup and shutdown capabilities. 

Natural gas units generate power with either reciprocating engines, which generate power using a piston, or spinning turbine blades, similar to a jet engine. The resulting heat and pressure spin an electrical generator to help power eastern Nebraska. Many of OPPD’s units have dual-fuel capability. That allows them to run on natural gas or fuel oil when natural gas supplies are scarce. 

The event also celebrated the start of two new projects. OPPD is partnering with Kiewit Corporation to add four more 225-megawatt generating units. TCS will get one additional unit, and the other three will be at  Cass County Station (CCS). 

The new generation turbines at TCS and CCS will add 900 megawatts of generation capacity to OPPD’s portfolio. That is roughly equal to the peak summer load in the city of Lincoln. 

Kiewit’s power division will also help OPPD convert two natural gas units at CCS. The conversions will allow the units to be able to also run on fuel oil as a backup to natural gas.  

The projects are part of OPPD’s work to add 2.5 gigawatts of power. Learn more at OPPDCommunityConnect.com.