Huntington Beach Energy Project

The Huntington Beach Energy Project (HBEP), formerly AES Huntington Beach, is a natural gas-fired power station located in Huntington Beach, California.

History
The facility was constructed between 1958 and 1969 on a 53 acre. Total station capacity was 1,000,000 kilowatts. It originally consisted of two 215 MW General Electric cross compound 3600/1800 RPM steam turbines (HP/LP turbines). Main steam pressure was 2400 PSI, main steam temperature was 1050 DEG F and reheat temperature was 1000 DEG F. The generators were hydrogen cooled, rated at 128,000 KVA. The boilers were Babcock and Wilcox natural circulation (drum boilers), rated at 1,560,000 LB/HR. The boilers could be fired with natural gas or fuel oil. Units 1 and 2 were completed in 1958. Unit 3 was a General Electric cross compound 3600/1800 RPM at 1050/1000 DEG F, with a 215 MW steam turbine. Unit 4 was a Westinghouse, cross compound 3600/1800 rpm, 1050/1000 DEG F 225MW. The boilers were Babcox and Wilcox Universal Pressure Boilers (called once thru) rated at 1,638,000 LB/HR. All four units were cooled using water sourced from the Pacific Ocean. Unit 5 was completed in 1969 and was a gas peaking unit, rated at 121 MW at 90 deg F. It consisted of 8 Pratt & Whitney GG4a-2 gas turbines exhausting into 4 Worthington expanders 2 stage turbines and 1 Westinghouse generator, 3 phase hydrogen cooled rated at 162,500 KVA, 16,000 volts 3600 rpm. Unit 1 was decommissioned on December 31, 2019, while Units 3 and 4 were decommissioned at an unknown date. Unit 2 is the only original unit still in operation.

In June 2017, AES began construction of a 644 MW combined cycle gas turbine (Unit 5) that is visually smaller and is air-cooled. Unit 5 was commissioned on February 4, 2020. An additional 200 MW simple cycle gas turbine is proposed for the site should additional capacity be necessary.