Burns & McDonnell to construct 128MW gas fired power plant in New Orleans

Burns & McDonnell has been selected by Entergy New Orleans as the EPC project manager for its New Orleans Power Station, a new 128MW gas fired power plant to be built in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Entergy New Orleans has given a full notice to Burns & McDonnell to move ahead with its contract. The design work is underway for the $210 million worth gas fired power plant.

The New Orleans Power Station is expected to break ground later this year. It is slated to be commissioned and will move into full operations by January 2020.

This Entergy gas fired power plant will feature seven natural gas-fired Wartsila 50SG reciprocating engines, which will be delivered by Finnish technology group Wartsila.

New Orleans Power Station-Entergy gas fired power plant – New Entergy gas fired power plant in Louisiana. Photo courtesy of Entergy Corporation.

The Wartsila 50SG reciprocating engines have been selected for the New Orleans Power Station because of their capability of offering flexible, fast-start power that can be increased up or down quickly depending on the demands of the system demands.

Another advantage is that the even during a “black start” situation caused by a major storm or other events and when there is no power available on the surrounding grid, the Wartsila 50SG reciprocating engines at the Entergy gas fired power plant can be dispatched separately and used as a local source of generation.

Commenting on the reciprocating engines and the New Orleans Power Station, Rick Halil – President and General Manager of Burns & McDonnell’s Energy Division, said: “Reciprocating engine technology has proven to be an excellent way to balance the intermittency of power output from renewable sources.

“We have designed and built a majority of the utility-scale reciprocating engine projects in the country as more and more utilities turn to reciprocating engines to balance their power needs with renewables.”

Adding further Javier Cavada – President, Wartsila Energy Solutions, said: “Our technology represents the best fit and most competitively priced option for Entergy New Orleans.

“Wärtsilä’s Smart Power Generation solution offers the flexibility needed to go offline and restart quickly multiple times per day.”

The notice given to Burns & McDonnell to commence its work on the New Orleans Power Station comes after the recent construction approval secured by Entergy New Orleans from the New Orleans City Council.

The new Entergy gas fired power plant will be constructed on the same site of the company’s retired Michoud gas power plant, which was shut down due to economic and operational reasons.