Start the engines

Four large cutting-edge natural gas generator sets promise to bring more efficient and reliable energy to the region.
The Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency has dedicated a 38.8-megawatt station in Owatonna. Agency officials showed off the generators during an open house Aug. 8.
Claudio Martino, the regional sales director for Caterpillar Energy Solutions, the company behind the machines’ construction, explained that this new addition to Owatonna’s energy arsenal is “Caterpillar’s largest natural gas generator set on the market.” He further described the generator set as “the most efficient,” of its type. 
“Its very, very low cost for this quality of installation,” Martino revealed. “It’s certainly a low investment for a very highly efficient electricity generator.” The Owatonna station is the second application of this modern technology in the United States. 
The Caterpillar G20CM34 generator set uses pressurized natural gas to power a “720 RPM, 20-cylinder, natural gas-fired, spark ignited, V-shape, turbocharged and aftercooled engine that allows multiple fast starts per day and achieves high efficiency with low emissions, even in partial loads,” Martino said in a statement. “These features make the G20CM34 generator set an ideal solution to provide key ancillary services to the local grid, such as spinning reserve and regulation,” he continued.
With the potential to provide reserve energy should modern renewable sources prove less reliable, the new G20CM34 will be a potent addition to the region’s energy supply. “It can go from zero to full in under eight minutes,” project manager Todd Manchin explained of the technological marvel.
Manchin describes himself as “formerly a Blooming Prairie guy,” and works for SMMPA, through which he was placed in charge of this recent energy project. He sees much potential in the new generator sets ability to supply quick, reliable energy. 
“You can’t make the wind blow or the sun shine,” he said of the environmentally sound and renewable resources which this generator set will compliment. “That’s where this can offer a more reliable source.” 
According to Manchin, although actual build time was around 12 months, construction of the $40 million plant began in October of 2015 and was completed in early 2018 when accounting for permit time. It will require a small staff of just four employees.
“All those little towns that are in SMMPA will benefit,” Manchin explained. SMMPA has its headquarters in Rochester and counts 18 member utilities as part of its network. These include towns like Owatonna, Blooming Prairie, and Waseca, among others.
The Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency was created by its members as a not-for-profit joint-action agency in 1977 and utilizes a diverse energy mix of renewable energy, coal, and natural gas-fired generation.
The agency also features an array of innovative products and services to provide reliable and affordable electricity in an environmentally sustainable manner to its 18 member utilities as well as the nearly 118,000 customers they serve.
“It’s very versatile,” Manchin offered of this new generator set. “It works well in the market, which is the key.” The possibility for supplying neighboring communities with power will be cemented with such a state-of-the-art machine in Owatonna’s wheelhouse.
This new power plant effectively replaces the older energy facility which was damaged by the Straight River flooding of 2010. Now that it’s completed, the new plant will provide power to an estimated 25,000 Minnesota households.
To celebrate its dedication, SMMPA held an open house last Wednesday, where residents could come and see the engines in action. The open house was held from 1:30 until 3 p.m. and culminated in the first ignition of natural gas within the generator sets.
Machines such as this have become part of a trend within energy markets in recent years, with Owatonna’s station now something of a bellwether. Manchin explained that, “more and more people are building these facilities all the time,” including one in Rochester.
“It has all the bells and whistles,” Caterpillar region sales director Martino said of the new generator. “It’s a very flexible generator and can be used in many different conditions.”
The natural gas is pressurized and then transferred to the generator where it is ignited and used to power sets of large pistons, creating energy which can be used or stored. Natural gas generators carry less of an environmental impact than other energy sources, and are noted as a relatively clean-burning fossil fuel system.
In 2013 a set of four G16CM34 generator sets were installed in Fairmont, and based on the success of that installation Caterpillar again partnered with SMMPA on the new Owatonna station, which is larger and more advanced than the Fairmont facility.
Each of the four generators will produce 9.7 megawatts of electric generation capacity per generator set, totaling to around 38.8 megawatts. It will be able to work in concert with renewable resources, and as project manager Manchin explained, “this is built to follow wind.”
With the new generator sets installed and ready for operation, residents within SMMPA’s jurisdiction will receive more efficient and reliable energy that carries very limited environmental impact.  The new facility is located at 2884 West Bridge St. in Owatonna.