COCHISE, Ariz. (KGUN) — A multimillion-dollar project is expected to improve the reliability and efficiency of a coal-powered turbine at the Apache Generating Station in Cochise, Ariz.
Curt Coccodrilli, Acting Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy, toured the generating station Monday. The visit came as the federal government is providing Arizona Electric Power Cooperative (AEPCO) with more than $20 million to upgrade and repair one of the facility’s turbines.
“The number one reason is to keep these things efficient, effective, and running smoothly to get cheap, affordable power to the customer base,” Coccodrilli said.
AEPCO provides electricity across Southern Arizona and other states in the Southwest.
Michael Nelson, executive director of power production for the nonprofit, says the turbine has not received upgrades of this scale in nearly 50 years.
“There’s a lot of future improvements there,” Nelson said. “That’s going to increase reliability, increase efficiency on the units. So, when you increase efficiency on the units, what you do is you lower your cost to your distribution cooperative members.”
The entire project is expected to cost more than $60 million, with most of the money coming from non-federal funding. The work will focus on improving the turbine’s mechanical and electrical integrity.
Nelson said the project will require extensive engineering and equipment made specifically for the facility.
“There’s a huge engineering faction involved with it, and then getting product made for your facility,” Nelson said. “As you know, it takes quite a long time to get something made.”
Coccodrilli said upgrading the existing turbine is more affordable than building an entirely new generating facility.
“Why would you want to go and build a whole brand-new plant and spend tens of millions, if not billions, of dollars when, with the small upgrade of taxpayer-injected capital, along with $30 million of capital from the cooperative, you get, voilà, a brand-new turbine that can help move power right to where it’s needed most?” he said.
The turbine uses coal to generate electricity. Coccodrilli said the fuel source was among the reasons the project was selected for federal funding.
“We love to see our big, beautiful coal used wherever it can be used,” he said. “It is one of the cheapest baseload power sources on planet Earth.”
The work is expected to be completed by the end of 2030.
Coccodrilli concluded his Arizona visit at the University of Arizona’s San Xavier Mine. He said mining and engineering careers will be crucial to the country’s future development, particularly as the United States seeks to expand domestic production of critical minerals and rare-earth elements.
“Our country is going to depend on it,” Coccodrilli said. “It is one of the most supercritical things we could do, is to get those mining and engineering students back into what matters most, which is critical mining, critical minerals, rare-earth elements. We want to onshore all of that back here.”
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Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook.
