830-Megawatt Combined-Cycle Facility
Shiro, Texas
The Tenaska Frontier Generating Station is an 830-megawatt (MW) combined-cycle electric generating facility that is fueled by natural gas or fuel oil. The plant, which is located in Grimes County near Shiro, Texas, began operating in late summer 2000.
Tenaska developed the power project and formed Tenaska Frontier Partners, Ltd., a Texas limited partnership, to build and own the facility. Affiliates of Tenaska serve as project manager and operate the project. Exelon Generation Company, LLC purchases the facility’s total output, and markets the power both within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and all of the Eastern Interconnected Grid.
The Tenaska Frontier Generating Station was one of the first plants able to dispatch power to multiple grids extending beyond ERCOT. Electricity had previously been transmitted in and out of ERCOT only through two expensive direct current (DC) interties.
The Tenaska Frontier Generating Station interconnects with ERCOT through CenterPoint Energy’s 345 kilovolt (kV) transmission line and with grids outside of ERCOT, in the Eastern Interconnected Grid, through Entergy’s 345 kV transmission line. This ability provides significant opportunities in both power and gas markets.
The station includes three General Electric Frame 7FA gas turbines, three heat recovery steam generators and one General Electric steam turbine.
At the time it was developed, the plant was one of the largest non-utility electric generation facilities in North America.
The Tenaska Frontier Generating Station provides Grimes County with substantial financial benefits. In addition to the construction jobs previously provided, the facility provides 25 to 30 well-paid, permanent positions and generates an annual payroll, including subcontractor services and vendors, of approximately $5.7 million per year. The plant is the county’s largest property tax payer, providing revenue that can be used for roads, law enforcement and basic services. However, it does not require a large number of permanent workers who would increase demands for schools, roads, fire protection or other services.
In 2007, Tenaska Frontier shared in a ‘Best of the Best’ award from Combined Cycle Journal with other Tenaska-owned plants for successfully implementing a state-of-the-art performance monitoring program for critical plant processes to reduce operating costs, help identify potential problems and increase overall consistency among the plants.
Tenaska Frontier also won three awards from the National Safety Council for its excellent safety record and successful safety programs in 2009. The awards are the Occupational Excellence Achievement Award, the Perfect Record Award and the Superior Safety Performance Award. Tenaska Frontier employees have worked more than 10 years without an occupational injury or illness involving days away from work.
