Cherokee Generating Station

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Cherokee Generating Station
Cherokee Generating Station in Denver, CO.jpg
Cherokee Generating Station in 2025
Cherokee Generating Station
CountryUnited States
Location North Washington, Colorado
Coordinates 39°48′27″N104°57′54″W / 39.80750°N 104.96500°W / 39.80750; -104.96500
StatusOperational
Commission date 1957 (Unit 1); 1959 (Unit 2); 1960s (Units 3–4); 2015 (combined-cycle units) [1]
Owner Xcel Energy
Operator Public Service Company of Colorado
Thermal power station
Primary fuelNatural gas
Secondary fuelCoal (historical)
Turbine technology Combined cycle and steam turbine
Power generation
Units operational4
Nameplate capacity 1,006.4 MW (nameplate); 886 MW (net summer) [2]
Annual net output 3,200 GW·h (2022) [3]
[ edit on Wikidata]

Cherokee Generating Station is a natural gas-fired power plant in North Washington, Colorado, about 5 miles (8.0 kilometers) north of downtown Denver. [4] Cherokee currently has a nameplate capacity of 1006.4 megawatts and a net summer capacity of 886 megawatts, [5] making it the largest power plant in Adams County and the second-largest natural gas–fired plant in the state behind Fort St. Vrain Generating Station. [6] In 2022, Cherokee produced a total of 3.2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, representing roughly 5 percent of total electricity generation in Colorado. [3]

Cherokee is composed of four power generating units: one standalone natural gas–fired steam turbine, two natural gas–fired combustion turbines, and one steam turbine sourcing heat from the exhaust of the two combustion turbines. This configuration (excluding the standalone steam turbine) is known as a combined cycle natural gas power plant. In 2022, the overall thermal efficiency of the steam turbine unit was 31.3%, compared to 43.2% of the combined cycle units. [3] Efforts have been made to reduce the amount of water consumed, most likely from evaporation in the cooling towers. [7] The combined cycle units were constructed in 2015, adding another 625.6 megawatts of nameplate capacity to the steam turbine's 380.8 MW. [8] Prior to 2017, the steam turbine unit was almost entirely powered by coal; it shifted to only natural gas that year and has not burned coal since. [3] The change was partly driven by Colorado's Clean Air–Clean Jobs Act (HB 10-1365), along with factors such as low natural gas prices and state-level pressure to transition away from coal. [1] [9]

References

  1. 1 2 "Coal Ash: Cherokee Station CCR Groundwater Monitoring System Certification" (PDF). xcelenergy.com. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  2. ↑ "Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860)". U.S. Energy Information Administration . Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Electricity Data Browser". U.S. Energy Information Administration . Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  4. ↑ "Cherokee Generating Station". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. 18 September 2007.
  5. ↑ "Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860)". U.S. Energy Information Administration . Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  6. ↑ "U.S. Energy Atlas". U.S. Energy Atlas. U.S. Energy Information Administration. July 26, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Xcel Energy". co.my.xcelenergy.com. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  8. ↑ "Xcel starts up $110M, 34-mile natural gas pipeline for Denver's Cherokee power plant". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  9. ↑ "Colorado's Clean Air–Clean Jobs Act: Encouraging Conversion of Coal Plants to Natural Gas". Columbia Law School (Climate Change Blog). 2010-10-19. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
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