Power

Location

Victorville, CA

Owner

Constellation Energy Group

Contractor

Kiewit Power Constructors Co.

Value

$265 million

In November 2000, Kiewit Power Engineers Co. and Kiewit Power Constructors Co., subsidiaries of Kiewit Corporation, were selected to engineer, procure and construct the $265 million High Desert combined-cycle power plant. Completed nearly two-and-a-half months ahead-of-schedule, this 29-month project involved placing three gas combustion turbines and one 323-megawatt, 610,000-lb. steam turbine for the 830-megawatt power plant. Additional work included the control, administration, warehouse and water treatment facilities.

Unique to this project is the zero-liquid discharge system allowing the facility to use 58,000 gallons per minute of water from the California aqueduct for steam generation. The wastewater is then treated, and approximately 2,600-acre ft. of water is returned to the aquifer beneath the facility each year.

The water goes through four processes: pretreatment, cooling tower blowdown, zero-liquid discharge and aquifer banking. The process begins with solids and debris being removed from the water. Demineralized water is produced in the cooling tower blowdown for the steam system. Once the steam has been used for power, it is condensed back into water, and rejected solids are filtered out so the water can be returned to the earth.

Major quantities included 25,000 cu. yd. of concrete, 850 tons of structural steel, 152,000 ft. of piping, 120,000 cu. yd. of excavation, and 970,000 ft. of electrical cable. The project was awarded the 2003 Power Plant of the Year.