Big Allis, formally known as Ravenswood No. 3, is a giant electric power

Electric power

Electric power is the rate at which electric energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt.-Circuits:Electric power, like mechanical power, is represented by the letter P in electrical equations...

 generator

Electrical generator

In electricity generation, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A generator forces electric charge to flow through an external electrical circuit. It is analogous to a water pump, which causes water to flow...

 originally commissioned by Consolidated Edison

Consolidated Edison

Consolidated Edison, Inc. is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $14 billion in annual revenues and $36 billion in assets...

 Company (ConEd) and built by the Allis-Chalmers

Allis-Chalmers

The Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co. of West Allis, Wisconsin, is an American company known for its past as a manufacturer with diverse interests, perhaps most famous for their bright Persian Orange farm tractors...

 Corporation in 1965. Currently owned by Transcanada Corp.

TransCanada Corp.

TransCanada Corporation is a major North American energy company based in Calgary, Alberta, developing and operating energy infrastructure in North America. Its pipeline network includes approximately of pipeline and connects with virtually all major gas supply basins in North America...

, it is located on 36th Avenue and Vernon Boulevard in western Queens, New York.

During 1963, Allis-Chalmers announced that ConEd had ordered the "world’s first MILLION-KILOWATT unit...big enough to serve 3,000,000 people." This sheer scale helped the plant become popularly known as "Big Allis".

At the time of its installation, it was the world's largest steam energy generating

Thermal power station

A thermal power station is a power plant in which the prime mover is steam driven. Water is heated, turns into steam and spins a steam turbine which drives an electrical generator. After it passes through the turbine, the steam is condensed in a condenser and recycled to where it was heated; this...

 facility. It is located on the Ravenswood site, consisting of Units 1, 2, 3 and 4, as well as several small Gas Turbines (GTs), and an oil depot

Oil depot

An oil depot is an industrial facility for the storage of oil and/or petrochemical products and from which these products are usually transported to end users or further storage facilities...

. The site overall produces about 2,500 MW, or approximately 20% of New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

's current energy needs. The current installed capacity of Big Allis is around 980 MW.

The Ravenswood, Queens

Ravenswood, Queens

Ravenswood is the name for the strip of land bordering the East River in Long Island City, in the New York City borough of Queens. The area is part of Queens Community Board 1.-History:...

 site also includes a steam generation plant consisting of four Babcock & Wilcox boilers, commonly known as "The A House", currently owned and run by Con Edison, which helps in the supply of steam to the Manhattan steam system

New York City steam system

The New York City steam system is a district heating system which takes steam produced by steam generating stations and carries it under the streets of Manhattan to heat, cool, or supply power to high rise buildings and businesses...

 when needed, via a tunnel crossing under the East River.

Ravenswood was owned by Con Ed from the time it was built until 1999, when due to deregulation, Con Ed was forced to sell its in-city generating capacity. KeySpan

KeySpan

KeySpan Corporation, now part of National Grid USA, was the fifth largest distributor of natural gas in the United States. KeySpan was formed in 1998 as result of the merger of Brooklyn Union Gas Company and Long Island Lighting Company...

 bought the site for US$600 million. In 2007, KeySpan merged with National Grid

National Grid

-Electric power transmission systems:*National Grid , the electricity transmission network of Great Britain.*National Grid , the electricity transmission network of Malaysia....

. Because of the possibility to influence in-city electrical costs due to National Grid's significant upstate electrical distribution, the New York State Public Service Commission forced National Grid to sell the site. In 2008, TransCanada Corp, based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, bought the site for US$2.9 billion.

External links

• New York Daily Photo
• Ravenswood Generating Station by TransCanada