Burns & McDonnell has completed start-up and commissioning of a 16MW black start unit for the 750 MW combined cycle Carroll County Energy facility in Ohio, which began commercial operation in December 2017.

The IPP facility is powered by a 2×1 combined cycle configuration designed around two 241MW General Electric 7F.05 gas turbines, unfired heat recovery steam generator and D650 steam turbine generator.

At base load output, the combined cycle plant is rated at 758MW net plant output and 5640 Btu/kWh heat rate (60.3% net efficiency) with an operational ramp rate of 40MW per minute on natural gas fuel.

Newly commissioned 16MW black start unit, powered by four diesel engines, will independently restart the combined cycle plant if a widespread grid outage occurs and help restore power.

Burns & McDonnell provided engineering, procurement and construction services for the black start unit project, completed the installation while the combined cycle plant remained in commercial service.

“Many people in Ohio remember the 2003 blackout where power could not be restored for five days,” says Andrew Degon, senior vice president, engineering and construction for Advanced Power, equity partner and operator of Carroll County Energy.

“Adding black start capacity means we can restart almost immediately in the event of a widespread outage, which is a critical step to add resilience to the PJM grid and help prevent a similar disaster in the future.”