Southern California is highly populated with renewable energy projects, and CPV is adding to it. Its natural gas-fired power plant is capable of providing dependable power under summer peaking, which can easily see triple-digit temperatures. At 800 MW, CPV constructed the world’s largest facility of its kind.
The Sentinel Energy Project integrates the most modern "peaking" power technology around, and that’s GE’s LMS100 aeroderivative gas turbine. Its rapid start (10 minutes) and ramp rate (greater than 10 MW per minute) support the plant with an output of 100+ MW. It has unmatched hot-day performance due to intercooling, and is capable of running on both gas and liquid fuels.
Eight turbines will provide variable dispatch loads—from 50 MW to 800 MW—and a variety of ancillary services, like spinning- and non-spinning reserve. These help firm the local grid and supplement the copious renewable power sources that surround Riverside County.
With GE adding to gas-fired power plants, and CPV providing a clear path to commercialize greener projects like this one, California sets the example for a clean energy sector; one that provides for 640,000 homes in Southern California Edison's service territory.