Construction of AES Alamitos Energy Center to Start in July

After receiving approvals from state regulators, AES Southland plans to start construction of its new $1.3-billion Alamitos Energy Center in East Long Beach this July, according to company officials.

At a meeting in Sacramento on April 12, the California Energy Commission (CEC) unanimously approved plans for AES to build a modernized 1,040-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant that will integrate renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, and include a battery energy storage facility expected to be the largest in the world.

The project calls for demolishing the existing 1950s-era natural gas-fired Alamitos Generating Station that currently uses ocean water to cool steam generators at a site on Studebaker Road adjacent to the Los Cerritos Wetlands, Alamitos Bay and residential neighborhoods.

In an interview with the Beachcomber, Stephen O’Kane, director of sustainability and regulatory compliance for AES, said the Alamitos Energy Center, along with a 844-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant being built in Huntington Beach also approved by the CEC, will put Southern California at the forefront of sustainable and reliable energy generation for years to come.

“We think that we have some excellent projects that are really going to propel Southern California into the future of where our energy supplies are going with a greater reliance on renewable energy and efficiencies and reductions in greenhouse gases,” he said. “That’s what these projects accomplish, and we’re really quite excited that we’ve gotten to the point of approval.”

For the Alamitos Energy Center, which has been in the works for six years, the CEC granted a total capacity of 1,040 megawatts. However, only 650 megawatts is contracted through the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for a 20-year period and is guaranteed to be constructed, O’Kane said. The CEC allows an additional 400 megawatts but only if needed, he said.

“We’re here as an energy solutions provider, and we’ll only build the capacity that the state needs,” O’Kane said. “We got approved for more than is contracted today, but, if the state needs it in a very short period of time, it will be ready there as an option for the state.”

While the CEC approves site planning and licensing for projects, the CPUC authorizes long-term contracts with utilities such as Southern California Edison, he noted, adding that the two state government agencies oversee separate procurement processes.

Still, the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust and other environmental groups have objected to the AES power plant projects, calling the projects “unnecessary” and “oversized” for grid reliability, requesting less reliance on natural gas and mentioning related impacts to sensitive wetlands habitats.

In an email to the Beachcomber, Elizabeth Lambe, executive director of the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust, said she did not have a comment on the state’s recent approval of the projects.  

Either way, the modernized facility will be smaller, cleaner, more efficient and generate less capacity than the current power plant, which is contracted for a total of 2,000 megawatts, O’Kane said.

“Anyway you look at it, it’s a significant decrease in thermal generation at the Long Beach site,” he said. “It’s a real reduction in size and at the same time a huge increase in efficiency. We’ll be able to provide the same electrical service using about half as much fuel.”

The project comes after the California State Water Resources Control Board adopted new rules about six years ago, mandating that power plants cease using “once-through” cooling systems that use ocean water to cool steam generators, due to impacts on marine life and habitats, by 2020.

To comply with the new mandate, AES proposes building combined-cycle natural gas turbine generators that would no longer use ocean water for cooling and instead use an air-cooling internal radiator system, similar to what is used in a car, according to AES.

O’Kane said $1.3 billion is guaranteed to be invested into the Alamitos Energy Center to build a modernized 650-megawatt power plant and a 100-megawatt battery energy storage facility, which has yet to be approved for building permits through the City of Long Beach. 

If full capacity is needed and all contracts are approved, however, the project may end up costing about $2 billion, he said.

Construction of the new Alamitos Energy Center is expected to begin this July, O’Kane said, adding that the new facility will be built alongside the existing power plant, which will remain in operation while construction is underway as to not interrupt energy service.

After construction is completed in 2020, the existing power plant will then be demolished, a process expected to take two to four years, he said. 

Once the new facility is operational and the existing plant is torn down, the steam generating stacks will no longer obstruct views for local residents, including the University Park Estates neighborhood, O’Kane said. He noted that demolition will not include any explosions or create any large dust clouds.

“At the end of that process it will look different,” O’Kane said. “The new ones are much smaller and sleeker. We’re talking 70 years of advancement in technology compared to the 1950s-era steam turbines that are there today. It’s a significant change to the views.”

He said the City of Long Beach will eventually conduct studies to determine the future use of AES cooling pumps, which, although are required to be shutdown by 2020 to comply with state regulations, serve a unique purpose of circulating ocean water and preventing pollution buildup in Alamitos Bay.

sean@beachcomber.news