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EKPC to construct cooling tower

November 08, 2007

BURNSIDE, Ky. - East Kentucky Power Cooperative informed the Kentucky Public Service Commission on Monday of its plans to proceed with construction of a water cooling tower at Cooper Station.

Cooperative officials said the cooling tower will ensure that the power plant remains fully operational regardless of changes in Lake Cumberland's elevation as repairs are made to Wolf Creek Dam. Construction of the tower is planned to begin in the next few weeks and will take about four months to complete.

"Cooper Station is critical to East Kentucky Power Cooperative's operations and to the regional transmission grid," said John Twitchell, EKPC senior vice president of generation and transmission operations. "It is a top priority for us to ensure that Cooper Station remains operational."

The cooling tower is the second phase of EKPC's two-part, $24 million plan to ensure the availability of cooling water for Cooper Station's two power-generating units as work proceeds on the dam. EKPC has deployed four barge-mounted pumps in the channel adjacent to the power plant, and will deploy four more by the end of the year.

"East Kentucky Power Cooperative wants to avoid any unnecessary costs that would impact our ratepayers, so we have continued discussions with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about their intentions," Twitchell said. "But the Corps has not withdrawn its advisory that water users should prepare for lower lake elevations, so we plan to proceed with construction of the cooling tower."

Earlier this year, the Corps of Engineers lowered Lake Cumberland to about 680 feet above sea level in order to make dam repairs, and told water users to be prepared by the end of 2007 for the lake to be lowered an additional 30 feet.

Although EKPC originally planned to have the cooling tower in operation by the end of 2007, the cooperative later determined that because of cooler water temperatures during the winter and spring, the tower would not be needed until May 2008, even if the lake is lowered further.

Lake levels this summer were a few feet above Cooper Station's existing water intakes. The resulting water temperatures were much warmer than normal because the water came from closer to the lake surface. Because the warmer water was less efficient for cooling purposes, EKPC frequently was unable to run the units at full capacity during the summer, officials said.

But, the cooling tower and barge-mounted pumps should address this situation, according to the cooperative.

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