Gould Street Generating Station
Encyclopedia
Constellation Energy
Constellation Energy, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is an energy producer, trader, and distributor. The company operates over 35 power plants in 11 states under its operating company Constellation Commodities Group and/or Constellation Generation Group...
that is located on Gould Street in south Baltimore, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. The plant is adjacent to an elevated section of freeway I-95
Interstate 95 in Maryland
Interstate 95 in Maryland is a major highway that runs diagonally from northeast to southwest, from Maryland's border with Delaware, to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, briefly entering the District of Columbia before reaching Virginia...
and is south of the Riverside neighborhood and west of the Locust Point
Locust Point, Baltimore
Locust Point is a peninsular neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland. Located in South Baltimore, the neighborhood is entirely surrounded by the Locust Point Industrial Area; the traditional boundaries are Lawrence street to the west and the Patapsco River to the north, south, and east...
neighborhood of Baltimore. The plant site, located on the shore of the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River
Patapsco River
The Patapsco River is a river in central Maryland which flows into Chesapeake Bay. The river's tidal portion forms the harbor for the city of Baltimore...
, has been used for the generation of electric power for over one hundred years.
Plant description
Electric output from the Gould Street Generating Station is provided by Unit 3, which consists of a natural gasNatural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
-fired boiler and steam turbine. Water from the Patapsco River is used as the heat sink of the condensor for the steam turbine. The plant also has a 250 kW emergency generator intended to be used during power outage
Power outage
A power outage is a short- or long-term loss of the electric power to an area.There are many causes of power failures in an electricity network...
s to provide back-up power to start Unit 3.
History
The plant site was first used to generate electricity in 1905, when the Baltimore Electric Power Company installed three 2 MW, 60 cycle, 6,600 volt generators driven by steam turbines. The electricity was then converted to direct current by motor-generatorMotor-generator
A motor-generator is a device for converting electrical power to another form. Motor-generator sets are used to convert frequency, voltage, or phase of power. They may also be used to isolate electrical loads from the electrical power supply line...
sets at an electrical substation
Electrical substation
A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or perform any of several other important functions...
on Sharp Street, where it was sold to customers at prices below that being offered by its competitor in the city, the Consolidated Gas Electric Light and Power Company (a predecessor company of Constellation Energy). The resulting price war
Price war
Price war is a term used in economic sector to indicate a state of intense competitive rivalry accompanied by a multi-lateral series of price reduction. One competitor will lower its price, then others will lower their prices to match. If one of them reduces their price again, a new round of...
resulted in destructive competition
Cut-throat competition
Cut-throat competition, also known as destructive or ruinous competition, refers to situations when competition results in prices that do not chronically or for extended periods of time cover costs of production, particularly fixed costs...
, with electricity being sold at prices lower than its cost of production. The situation was solved in 1907 by the acquisition of the assets of the Baltimore Electric Company under a 999 year lease
Lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...
by Consolidated Gas. The turbines and generators at the plant, not being necessary to serve the electric load at that time, were then sold and shipped to a silver mining company in Mexico.
Two replacement steam-powered 35 MW generators numbered as Units 1 and 2 were installed in a new building at the site in 1927. A boiler which burned pulverized coal
Coal dust
Coal dust is a fine powdered form of coal, which is created by the crushing, grinding, or pulverizing of coal. Because of the brittle nature of coal, coal dust can be created during mining, transportation, or by mechanically handling coal.-Explosions:...
provided 450 psi steam for the turbines that was superheated
Superheated steam
Superheated steam is steam at a temperature higher than water's boiling point. If saturated steam is heated at constant pressure, its temperature will also remain constant as the steam quality increases towards 100% Dry Saturated Steam. Continued heat input will then generate superheated steam...
to 750ºF. These two generators operated until they were decommissioned in 1977.
The 100 MW generator of Unit 3, installed in 1952, was originally powered by a turbine with steam provided from a coal-fired boiler, but was later converted from coal to burn No. 6 fuel oil
Fuel oil
Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...
and natural gas. This unit was shutdown in 2003 due to an equipment failure involving the steam turbine. Constellation Energy repaired the turbine, modified Unit 3 to burn natural gas only, and reactivated the plant in June 2008.
Operations
Constellation Energy operates the Gould Street Generating Station as a peaking power plantPeaking power plant
Peaking power plants, also known as peaker plants, and occasionally just "peakers," are power plants that generally run only when there is a high demand, known as peak demand, for electricity.-Peak hours:...
with a capacity factor
Capacity factor
The net capacity factor or load factor of a power plant is the ratio of the actual output of a power plant over a period of time and its potential output if it had operated at full nameplate capacity the entire time...
of up to 10%. As the mid-Maryland region is a summer peaking load, the majority of the plant's operating time will be during hot summer days. The Gould Street Generating Station is dispatched by the PJM Interconnection
PJM Interconnection
PJM Interconnection LLC is a Regional Transmission Organization which is part of the Eastern Interconnection grid operating an electric transmission system serving all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee,...
regional transmission organization
Regional Transmission Organization
A regional transmission organization in the United States is an organization that is responsible for moving electricity over large interstate areas. Like a transmission system operator , an RTO coordinates, controls and monitors an electricity transmission grid that is larger with much higher...
.