Best of 2005 Awards

New York Power Authority 500-MW Combined-Cycle Power Plant

Award of Merit: Industrial

"Constructing a combined-cycle plant in New York City is not an easy chore," one of our Best of 2005 judges said.

That viewpoint captured the panel's admiration for the completion of a new power plant on a four-acre site in the Astoria section of Queens, adding 500 MW to New York's often-stretched power supply.

The $327 million plant, slated for completion last month on behalf of the New York Power Authority, is expected to help the city meet its anticipated power needs for the next few years. The plant, built next to the authority's existing Charles M. Poletti Generating Station, will burn natural gas with low-sulfur oil as a backup and use a combined-cycle technology that is cleaner and more efficient than most plants.

Combined-cycle technology allows the plant to generate 50 percent more electricity from its fuel than it would with a conventional single-cycle power system. The dual-phase system essentially captures heat generated from the main natural gas turbines and recycles it into additional energy.

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The system has two gas-powered combustion turbine-generators operating in conjunction with two heat-recovery steam generators and a steam turbine-generator. The facility also has advanced selective catalytic reduction emission controls.

"They craned in the big heat-recovery steam generators, and just seeing what they went through to move those into place is impressive," one judge said. "It's an extraordinarily complex project."

The construction effort included erecting a 97,000-sq.-ft., two-story building to house plant equipment. The project team installed, tested, and commissioned all of the equipment, including two 160-ft.-tall steel stacks for the heat recovery generators.

The project team drove 6,000 H-beam piles into the ground to support the foundations for all of the facilities and equipment. Other work included the installation of 110,000 ft. of process piping, along with 500 monitoring instruments, a water tank that holds 1 million gallons, and a 32-cell, air-cooled condenser.

The new plant's electrical systems include digital control equipment, three step-up transformers, switch gear, 1.4 million ft. of cable, 215,000 ft. of conduit, and 26,000 ft. of cable tray.

"There is a lot of fine calibration and many structural components," said one judge.

As many as 650 workers, representing 15 local labor unions, worked onsite during the project, which had an aggressive schedule for completion. Workers performed certain field activities in shifts around the clock. The contractor team advanced construction and mitigated changes even as the engineering team was finalizing and issuing designs. <<

Key Players

Owner: New York Power Authority

General Contractor: Slattery Skanska; Gottlieb Skanska

Construction Manager: DMJM Harris

Structural-Mechanical-Electrical-Geotechnical Engineer: Sargent & Lundy

Steel: Helmark Steel

Concrete-Plumbing: Slattery Skanska

Electrical: E-J Electric Installation

Fire Protection: SIRINIA Fire Protection

Insulation: Horizon Contracting