The Grand River Dam Authority has the crown jewel of its new power plant.
A massive Mitsubishi Hitachi gas turbine floated into the Port of Catoosa Tuesday. GRDA CEO Dan Sullivan said trucking the turbine from the manufacturing plant in Georgia to Oklahoma wasn’t an option.
"The vision to have an inland waterway that goes all the way to the mouth of the Mississippi is an incredible vision, and what a game-changer it's been for this state," Sullivan said. "And it's been a significant factor in our ability to get this unit here in an economical way."
Port Director Bob Portiss marveled at the turbine.
"This thing is 16 feet tall, 14 feet 6 inches wide, 38 feet long and about 350 tons. It's incredible," Portiss said. "It's an honor to be able to handle such cargo. It's another example of the tremendous success story that your port, a partnership between the City of Tulsa and Rogers County, has made."
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas Vice President Dave Walsh said compared to coal plants of 30 years ago, the turbine emits up to 99.9 percent fewer pollutants.
"This machine is big enough when in combined cycle with a steam turbine, to supply power to about a half a million homes, just to give you an idea how significant this is and the plant is with the installation of this equipment," Walsh said.
The turbine is the first of its kind in the western hemisphere, and it can generate 327 megawatts of power. It will be paired with a steam turbine to give the plant a total capacity of 495 megawatts.
