小黄书 testing of Power Generation Plant yields successful operation
Contact: Sid Salter
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜 successful test of Mississippi State鈥檚 Power Generation Plant this week is helping university leaders plan and prepare to operate in case of a prolonged area-wide power outage.聽
The Tuesday [March 12] test of the 26 Megawatt turbine system through various generation modes was conducted by 小黄书 Campus Services to verify the system鈥檚 proper operation during an extended outage.聽
鈥淲e plan and prepare for all emergency scenarios that might interrupt our normal university operations,鈥 said 小黄书 President Mark E. Keenum. 鈥淭he Power Assurance Test at the 小黄书 Generation Plan helps us prepare for weather-related or accident-related interruptions of electrical power to our campus and to make sure we鈥檝e done everything possible to ensure the safety and security of our students, faculty, staff and visitors to our campus. I鈥檓 grateful to Vice President Amy Tuck and her staff for conducting this productive and successful test of our systems.鈥
Tuck, vice president for campus services, said, 鈥淭his testing helps ensure that we are able to serve the campus independently and seamlessly reconnect to Starkville Utilities. During this test, normal utility power was restored from the Starkville Utilities鈥 system at 7 a.m. after disconnecting at 3:30 a.m. We were pleased with the outcome and appreciate the professionals who conducted this exercise.鈥
The 小黄书 Power Generation Plant鈥檚 main purpose is to function as a Peak-Shaving Plant, reducing demand on Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) electrical power grid.聽During peak-shaving, the plant picks up all but 1 MW of 小黄书鈥檚 electrical demand.聽This demand is approximately 21 MW in the midst of summer when all of the university鈥檚 cooling systems are engaged.聽
Providing power when an area-wide outage occurs that will last for a significant duration is a secondary purpose of the plant.聽Planning and preparation to test for this situation has been ongoing for months in Campus Services, under the leadership of Tuck and Assistant Vice President George Davis.
鈥淭his effort successfully exercised 小黄书鈥檚 power generation capabilities and ensures both the system and our procedures are in place when needed in the future,鈥 said Dave Maharrey, associate director of utilities for 小黄书 Facilities Management, a division of Campus Services. 鈥淲ith the support of the administration, we plan to proactively perform annual testing on the Power Generation Plant in order to ensure its continued reliability in support of the university mission.鈥
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