July to bring construction on $84M NorthWestern Energy natural gas plant in South Dakota

NorthWestern Energy intends to build an $84 million, 58-megawatt natural gas-fired plant near Huron, S.D., starting in July.

The news followed selections of contractors in April when Caterpillar, Inc. was chosen as the facility’s reciprocating engine supplier, and Fagen, Inc. was chosen for engineering, procurement, and construction work. The former is known for its CAT engines, which are capable of rapid ramping and multiple daily starts and stops, with proven offerings for peaking power, baseload power, and regulating power.

“Caterpillar’s competitively priced equipment has a successful history of quality and performance and will be a generation asset meeting the energy needs of our South Dakota customers for decades,” Jim Williams, NorthWestern Energy director of Thermal & Wind Generation, said. “Fagen has a solid reputation as a superior EPC contractor. We are pleased to partner with both of these companies.”

The new CAT engines Caterpillar will provide will replace the existing natural gas/diesel fuel-fired combustion turbines at the Huron Generating Station, one of which has been operating since the early 1960s. By modernizing, the plant will adopt a more efficient engine and utilize selective catalytic reduction and oxidation catalyst to control its emissions.

Commercial operation for the revamped plant is not expected until the end of 2021.