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Comanche Station
Comanche Station. An artist's depiction of Comanche Unit 3, currently under construction, is at the right.
Location: Pueblo, Colorado
Plant Description: Comanche is a coal-fired, steam-electric generating station with two operating units, with construction of a third unit under way and scheduled to be in service by fall 2009.
Power Production Capabilities : 660 megawatts (MW): Unit 1-325 MW and Unit 2-335 MW. When construction of Unit 3, 750 MW unit, is complete in 2009, the plant will have a production capability of 1,410 MW,making it the largest power plant in Colorado.
Fuel Source: Low-sulfur coal from the Powder River Basin near Gillette, Wyoming.
Plant History : Construction began on Unit 1 in April 1971, and it went into service in November 1973.
Unit 2 construction began in July 1973, and it went into service in December 1975. The third unit was proposed and approved in 2004, and construction began in fall of 2005.
Ownership: Xcel Energy owns Comanche Station's Units 1 and 2 and will own 500 MW of Unit 3, Intermountain Rural Electric Association in Sedalia, Colorado, also will own a portion of the new unit. Holy Cross Energy is also a project partner.
Interesting Features: Comanche Station is located one-quarter mile from Rocky Mountain Steel Mills in Pueblo. This customer is the single largest commercial account for Xcel Energy in Colorado and the only direct electric customer in the immediate area. All other electricity that Comanche generates is transported to the power grid or sold to the Pueblo-area electric distribution company, Aquila. Aquila is one of Xcel Energy's largest wholesale customers, purchasing two-thirds of its power from Xcel Energy.
Environmental Highlights: Air emissions are controlled at Comanche Station by baghouses on both existing units. Baghouses act like giant vacuum cleaners, removing more than 99 percent of particulate emissions from the flue gas. As part of the overall plant construction project, these two existing units also will receive new emission controls, including low-nitrogen oxide (NOx) burners and lime-spray dryers, as well as mercury reduction technology. The new unit at Comanche Station will have low-NOx burners and a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system to reduce NOx emissions. A baghouse will control particulates and a lime-spray dryer will control sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions. Activated carbon injection will control mercury emissions. As a result, overall SO2 and NOx emissions at Comanche Station will be lower than they are today - even with an additional unit coming on line. The plant uses about 10,000 acre-feet of water each year for cooling equipment and producing steam that turns turbine generators. In early summer of 2002, employees at Comanche Station responded to drought conditions in Colorado by investigating opportunities to conserve water at the plant. A variety of conservation projects were implemented, helping Comanche Station to significantly reduce its overall water consumption. The new unit will have a low-water use system that uses both water and air for cooling, reducing water use on this unit by about half.
Community Involvement: Comanche Station is an active member of the Pueblo community, providing public tours for community groups and hosting open houses for local residents. The plant works with a neighboring non-profit organization, the El Pueblo Boys and Girls Ranch, and has provided support for the organization's board and supported other events, such as hosting fishing days for the students. Comanche employees support a variety of other causes, including Junior Achievement, United Way, Operation Paint Brush, community food drives, career fairs, a job shadow program for local high school students and training for local emergency preparedness organizations.
Contact Information:
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