GRE Elk River Peaking Station

Great River Energy (GRE) hired Harris to serve as general contractor for the construction of the Elk River Peaking Station, a 175-megawatt natural gas peaking facility located in Elk River, Minnesota.

The plant featured a simple-cycle combustion turbine generator able to reach 150-megawatt of power output in 10 minutes, an output that is faster than any other industrial turbine of its size operating in the world (source: greatriverenergy.com). Designed to meet the community’s energy needs during times of its highest electrical demand, the plant was built to provide enough electricity to power roughly 175,000 homes and would be fueled with natural gas from April through October and with ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel oil for the remaining months.

To better manage and streamline the construction process, Harris generated a computer model of the project to coordinate with subcontractors, build-out work packages and schedules, and track progress and equipment.