Project Overview

Faribault Energy Park began commercial operation in June as a 150 MW electricity generating facility. Now it is being expanded by an additional 100 MW for combined cycle operation. When completed the facility will be among the most efficient and most environmentally friendly power plants in Minnesota.

The project developers are the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (MMPA) and its management company, Avant Energy. MMPA will own Faribault Energy Park. MMPA is an association of ten of the state's municipal power organizations with a goal of providing reliable, reasonably priced energy to its customers.

"We are going far beyond building a power plant," said Derick Dahlen of President of Avant Energy. "The Energy Park concept will be a model of environmental responsibility and innovation. We'll use clean-burning natural gas as the primary fuel, and we'll create a learning center for area school children to see how the plant works as well as study alternative forms of energy production such as wind and hydro technologies."

Faribault Energy Park will be a major economic stimulus for Faribault because of its construction and operations jobs, its improvement in capacity of electric lines in the area, and its ability to attract other business that can use the plant's ready-made hot water supply. The Faribault site's proximity to an existing electric transmission corridor and natural gas pipeline were major factors in site selection, Dahlen said.

"We see the Faribault Energy Park as playing an important role in helping MMPA and Minnesota meet their future energy needs, as well as providing an economic boost to Faribault," said Dave Pokorney, MMPA Chairman and City Administrator of Chaska, Minn.

At a cost of approximately $150 million, Faribault Energy Park will require more than 200 workers during construction. The combined-cycle Faribault Energy Park will use natural gas, with fuel oil as a backup, to fire a combustion turbine generator and produce electricity. The excess heat from the turbine is collected to produce steam, which, in turn, is used in a steam turbine generator to produce additional electricity. This combined-cycle approach allows for the most efficient use of a fuel source and protects the environment by limiting emissions.

The Faribault Energy Park is located on a 35-acre site two miles north of Faribault and just east of I-35 in an area being zoned for industrial development. The facility will generate approximately two percent of the electricity produced within Minnesota. According to projections by Mid-Continent Area Power Pool, an association of electric utilities, the Upper Midwest will need 2000 MW in additional electric production by the year 2010. Faribault Energy Park will contribute 250 megawatts to the system.

Minnesota Municipal Power Agency provides wholesale electricity to its members and customers for retail sales and distribution by the individual electric utilities. In 1992, the cities of Anoka, Arlington, Brownton, Chaska, LeSueur, North St. Paul, Olivia and Winthrop formed MMPA. Recently, Shakopee, Buffalo, and East Grand Forks joined MMPA as members. Steele-Waseca Cooperative Electric, which provides electricity for much of Rice County and parts of Faribault, is a wholesale customer of MMPA.