Repowering Long Island: Northport and Port Jefferson Power Stations
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The Northport Power Station Unit No. 1 was put into operation in 1967 followed by Unit No. 2 in 1968, Unit No. 3 in 1972 and Unit No. 4 in 1977. But Northport was around long before Unit No. 1 went into service in 1967. In 1912, LILCO put its very first unit into service in Northport Village, a 500 KW turbine. It supplied power for the Northport trolley system. Since only one boiler and engine could operate at the same time, the station produced enough electricity to power just 400 of the 500 electric lights that were installed in the village's homes and businesses.
The present day Northport Power Station with its four, 600-foot stacks is three football-fields long and large enough to accommodate 10 of the original powerhouses. Its four turbine generators produce a major portion of Long Island's annual electric generation.
The original 500 KW turbine that was installed in 1912 in the old plant was replaced with a 20 MW unit by 1928. At that time, Long Island's peak load was 2.8 MW. By comparison, Long Island hit a record peak demand of 5,792 MW on August 3, 2006. The plant's conversion from coal to oil was accelerated as a result of World War I when coal was scarce. More than 70 years later, the Company was faced with a potential fuel supply problem with the outbreak of the Persian Gulf crisis in 1991. Would it be available and how dependent would the Company be?
With the completion of the Iroquois Natural Gas Transmission Pipeline in 1992, the Company converted Northport Unit No. 4 to dual-firing capability. This multi-million dollar project provided fuel diversity and reduced dependency on imported oil. It reduced the Company's annual oil consumption of approximately 336 million gallons by an estimated 67.2 million gallons.
In 1995, Northport's Unit No. 2 was converted. Unit No. 1 was completed in 1998. Unit No. 3 is currently undergoing the last stage of its gas conversion and, when it returns to service in May of 2008, will complete the dual fuel firing capability conversions for Northport.
At 375 MW each, these units are the largest dual-fuel units on the system.
The Port Jefferson Power Station, located on the west side of Port Jefferson Harbor, has four units. Units No. 1 and 2 – rated at 40 MW each and put into service in 1948 and 1950 – were retired in September 1994. Unit No. 3 was put into service in 1958 and converted to dual-fuel in 1996. Unit No. 4 was put into service in 1960 and converted to dual-fuel in 1997.
Its two operating steam units, which were originally built to burn coal, can produce 362 megawatts at peak capacity.
During late 2001 and the first half of 2002, two General Electric LM6000 combustion turbines rated at a total of 79.9 MW were installed at Port Jefferson. They began commercial operation in July of 2002.
