My Job


Plant Engineer for Calpine

Calpine Gilroy Cogen L.P.
Gilroy Energy Center, L.L.C.

I work at Calpine's power plants in Gilroy, CA.
I am the Plant Engineer for both plants, and I deal with a lot of the compliance paperwork.
I joined Calpine in September 2001.

There are two power plants in Gilroy.

The Gilroy Cogen, L.P. (Cogen) is a cogeneration facility. It uses a General Electric Frame 7EA turbine (burning natural gas) to generate electricity. The waste heate from the turbine is used in a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) to generate steam. The steam is sold to ConAgra Foods next door for use in their drying process. (Harvest season is filled with the smell of garlic and onion.) Remaining steam is used to power a steam turbine generating more electricity. The combined power output is about 108 MW when supplying steam to ConAgra. The power is sold to the California grid.

The Gilroy Energy Center, L.L.C. is a peaking facility. It consists of three GE LM6000 turbines in s simple cycle arangement (there are no steam generators.) Each turbine is capable of generating over 45MW. The turbines can be started in a short time and are used to meet times of peak energy demand. The turbines are modified versions of the same engine used on the 747 aircraft.

My previous job was at IDT in Salinas, CA. (The fun cycles of the semiconductor industry.)
The Fab in Salinas no longer exists - a victim of old age in a very competitive industry.

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This page last updated January 20, 2004 Copyright 2004, Lance Null

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