MRES generating facility receives national award

MRES generating facility receives national award

The Turbine Inlet Cooling Association (TICA) recently presented its 2024 Turbine Inlet Cooling Excellence Award to Exira Station, a 140-megawatt generating facility in Audubon County, Iowa, owned by Western Minnesota Municipal Power Agency and operated by Missouri River Energy Services (MRES). According to a news release from TICA, a nonprofit trade association dedicated to advancing turbine inlet cooling technologies, the award was presented in late March during the annual Western Turbine Users Conference in Palm Springs, California.

Turbine inlet cooling enhances a gas turbine's power generation capacity and efficiency during hot weather when power demand is high. These systems help decarbonize the electric grid by minimizing the need to operate less efficient and high carbon-emitting systems at times of peak electric demand.

Exira Station has been using turbine inlet cooling for over 20 years to increase power generation capacity and efficiency during hot weather. The facility uses four electric chillers that produce chilled water that cools the inlet air of its three dual-fuel turbines. When the ambient dry-bulb temperature is 100 degrees, cooling the turbine inlet air to 50 degrees increases the plant’s capacity 35% when electric power is in high demand.