A well-known and prominent oil and gas company had recently completed construction of a new facility in the rural town of Dawson Creek, British Columbia. Here they were going to be processing field natural gas. The local utility was eight months late in upgrading their transmission lines to support this new facility. The company had no electricity to test, commission or operate the facility, presenting them with a major financial crisis.

In addition, it was the middle of winter, and temperatures reached a chilly -50°C, where water freezes instantly and cranes booms are so brittle, it is too dangerous to lift. Safety was imperative, and the company needed the expertise of a solution provider that could setup and operate a turbine in the most extreme weather conditions. Furthermore, they required that their corporate environmental goals - which exceeded local government standards - were complied with.

Peterson Power had the ability to provide a mobile gas turbine to meet their 5.7MW power demand on short notice. Peterson Power winterized the turbine package with insulation and snow hoods and used heaters to heat the combustion air to meet NOx standards. A last-minute situation arose when the plant had no natural gas to bootstrap the system (since the plant had to first run to provide the gas). Peterson’s Mobile Power Units (MPU) operate on a dual fuel system (natural and diesel), so diesel was brought in to start and commission the units. However diesel will not flow at 50°C, so Peterson Power insulated the pipes and was able to start the turbines without any problems. Due to the superior voltage production and frequency stability of Peterson Power’s MPU, they were able to switch over to natural gas while under load, on the fly. These turbines can run on island mode, handle block loads, and remain stable with many large engines coming on at once.

Peterson Power was chosen because they are able to set up and commission a turbine in almost any condition; provide a workable solution on the fly; meet the environmental emissions criteria of customers; and provide a rapidly deployable gas turbine that can meet a customers’ unique needs.