Gerald Gentleman Station (GGS) is Nebraska's largest electricity generating plant. It is located at , just south of Sutherland, Nebraska. The plant, owned and operated by

Nebraska Public Power District Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) is the largest electric utility in the state of Nebraska, serving all or parts of 84 (of 93) counties. It was formed on January 1, 1970, when Consumers Public Power District, Platte Valley Public Power and Irri ...

(NPPD), consists of two coal-fired generating units (launched into service in 1979 and 1982), which together have the capability to generate 1,365

megawatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wat ...

of power.

History

The construction of Gerald Gentleman station began in May 1973 and the first unit entered commercial service in April 1979 at a cost of $335 million. The construction of the second unit began in June 1977 and it began its commercial service in January 1982 with an additional expenditure of $287 million. The facility is named after Gerald Gentleman, a

Platte Center, Nebraska Platte Center is a village in Platte County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 336 at the 2010 census. History Platte Center was platted in 1880 by the railroad. It was named from its location near the geographical center of Platte C ...

native.

Coal supply

Coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

comes from Wyoming's

Powder River Basin The Powder River Basin is a geologic structural basin in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming, about east to west and north to south, known for its extensive coal reserves. The former hunting grounds of the Oglala Lakota, the area is very s ...

by railroad, using

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...

and BNSF Railway lines as well as tracks that were built for this purpose by NPPD. At full capacity, Gerald Gentleman Station burns as much as 800 tons () of coal per hour.

Water use

The waste heat is dumped into man-made Sutherland Reservoir, fed by the Sutherland Canal, which originates at Kingsley Dam on

North Platte River The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long, counting its many curves.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 21, 2011 In a ...

References

External links

Nebraska Public Power District - Gerald Gentleman Station
{{Authority control Energy infrastructure completed in 1979 Energy infrastructure completed in 1982 Coal-fired power stations in Nebraska Buildings and structures in Lincoln County, Nebraska 1979 establishments in Nebraska