Canal Generating Plant
| Canal Generating Plant | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Location | Sandwich, Massachusetts |
| Coordinates | 41°46′14.02″N 70°30′33.81″W / 41.7705611°N 70.5093917°WCoordinates: 41°46′14.02″N 70°30′33.81″W / 41.7705611°N 70.5093917°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Commission date | 1968 |
| Owner(s) | GenOn Energy Holdings |
| Thermal power station | |
| Primary fuel | Oil |
| Power generation | |
| Nameplate capacity | 1,226 MW |
The Canal Generating Plant is a petroleum and natural gas electrical power station in Sandwich, Massachusetts. Opened in 1968, and first operating with coal, the plant was bought by Mirant in 1999 (now GenOn Energy Holdings, part of NRG Energy). It is located on and named after the Cape Cod Canal. Though today functioning only as a peaking plant, the Canal plant formerly generated the vast majority of the cape's power in its heyday.
The plant's owner has proposed a project to modernize the plant and keep it relevant by constructing a 330 megawatt combined cycle natural gas plant on the site which would be a combined-cycle natural gas unit capable of starting up within 10 minutes as well as a 1.5 MW solar array on the property. The third unit would have the ability to run on liquid fuel during cold periods in the winter when the natural gas pipelines are constrained. This project was reportedly chosen over repowering one of the oil units with natural gas.