Bechtel has been awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the Panda Temple II Generating Station, a 758 megawatt natural gas-fueled, combined-cycle power plant to be built in Temple, TX, south of Dallas. It is the third power facility to be built by Bechtel and consortium partner Siemens for Panda Power Funds.

The consortium is also designing and building the Panda Temple I Generating Station, which is adjacent to Panda Temple II, and the Panda Sherman Power Project in Sherman, TX (see Daily GPI, July 20, 2012). All three projects are identical in size, and when completed, will be among the most efficient natural gas-fueled power plants in the U.S., the companies said.

“This project, along with Panda Temple I and Panda Sherman, represents more than 2,200 megawatts of clean power,” said Alasdair Cathcart, president of Bechtel’s power business. “Together, the projects play an important part in advancing the combined-cycle gas market in the U.S.”

Bechtel will be responsible for project management, engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning of the Panda Temple II facility. Siemens will provide the power-island package, including the natural gas and steam turbines, and waste heat recovery boilers.

Once completed at the end of 2015, the Temple II plant will be able to supply the power needs of approximately 750,000 homes in the central Texas area.

Last November when the companies broke ground for the Sherman plant, they said Texas’ heavy reliance on wind power was considered in the design of the plant. “…Texas’ electrical grid has been subject to increased volatility in recent years as wind power can suddenly drop offline when the wind stops blowing,” the companies said. A natural gas power plant must then step in to quickly make up for the lost power.

“To meet this need, Panda designed the Sherman generating station as a ‘quick-start’ power plant. Power generation is expected to commence within 10 minutes of startup, reaching full gas turbine power production within approximately 30 minutes.”

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