The 758MW natural gas-fuelled, combined-cycle power facility is owned by Panda Power Funds and has been designed to be one of the cleanest plants in the USA. It is also one of the fastest-starting power plants of its kind in the country. The combustion turbines can synchronize in 10 minutes and reach full load within 30 minutes. The entire plant can achieve full power production within 60 minutes.
“The early completion of this plant is critically important to the state and to the community of Temple—especially now, when Texas is growing by more than a thousand people a day,” said Todd Carter, president and senior partner of Panda Power Funds. “The plant provides a reliable source of electricity that is capable of quickly supplying power when sources of renewable energy like wind and solar are not available.”
“Panda Temple I represents a tremendous team effort, including our consortium partner Siemens and Panda Power Funds, both of which worked seamlessly to bring the plant online early, which was important for our customer and the community,” said Mary McLaughlin, president of Bechtel’s thermal power business line. “We are pleased to have delivered a quality plant safely. As a result of a strong safety culture, the team worked the duration of the project without a single lost-time accident.”
As part of a consortium with Siemens, Bechtel provided project management, engineering, procurement, construction, and start-up services, while Siemens provided the power-island package, including the natural gas and steam turbines, generators, and waste-heat-recovery boilers. About 70% of the project’s subcontractors and 80 percent of Bechtel’s craft workers were from Texas.
Bechtel and Siemens also are working as a consortium to deliver the Panda Temple II generating station, adjacent to Panda Temple I.
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