Corps of Engineers Powerhouse at Sam Rayburn Reservoir Jumpstarts Power in Rita-Ravaged Jasper County.FORT WORTH, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas, 18th-largest city in the United States[1], and voted one of "America’s Most Livable Communities. -- An energized team at the Sam Rayburn Powerhouse is restoring electricity to parts of Jasper County Jasper County is the name of eight counties in the United States of America:
The Sam Rayburn Powerhouse, one of only three hydroelectric generating facilities operated by the Corps of Engineers in Texas, has been tasked to do what is termed a "black start" to restore a grid after hurricane Rita Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005. caused widespread power line damage and blackout of power. The "black start" process generally involves the starting of a black start unit, diesel generator A diesel generator is the combination of a diesel engine with an electrical generator (often called an alternator) to generate electric energy. Diesel generators are used in places without connection to the power grid or as emergency power-supply if the grid fails. or combustion turbine, and supplying start-up power to a power plant along a given transmission path. As more power plants carry individual islands of customer loads, they are eventually connected and the power system becomes more stable. This plan required careful planning and coordination between the Jasper-Newton Electric Co-op, Entergy Power, Sam Rayburn Municipal Power Agency, Southwestern Power Administration The Southwestern Power Administration (Southwestern) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Energy. Southwestern's mission was established by Section 5 of the Flood Control Act of 1944. and Corps team members at Sam Rayburn Reservoir Sam Rayburn Reservoir is a reservoir in the United States located in Southeast Texas, 70 miles (130 km) north of Beaumont. The reservoir is fed by the Angelina River, the major tributary of the Neches River. The capacity of the reservoir is 3,997,600 acre-feet (4. . According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Mike Carver, the Powerhouse superintendent, the procedure has some elements of risk associated with it. "The Corps normally wouldn't attempt something like this, but due to the circumstances and the urgent need to get power to critical-need facilities, our commanders decided to just do it," said Carver. The Powerhouse, which is staffed 24 hours a day, is equipped with two generators each capable of transmitting 25 megawatts of power. The "black start" began on Saturday afternoon at about 2 p.m. after the Corps received word that the line repair crews had restored power lines to the critical facilities. Within 30 minutes of being notified that the power lines were ready, the system "black start" was coordinated by the Jasper Newton Electric Cooperative and the Sam Rayburn Power Plant began charging the first section of power line. The generator was first used to charge the Mill Creek Mill Creek is an ambiguous placename used in the United States and Canada: Communities In California:
"We expected that some adjustments would need to be made along the way, but the Jasper-Newton Co-op has limited the jumpstart to only the most critical facilities so as not to overload the generator and to maintain the island's stability," explained Carver. Visit the Fort Worth District website at www.swf.usace.army.mil. |
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