Generator parts test port's big cargo capacity

PORT MANATEE -- Building a niche in handling huge industrial energy equipment, Port Manatee recently unloaded the last of dozens of power plant components for an expansion of one of the cleanest coal-fired power plants in the United States.

In February, the port took delivery of the last of a set of steam recovery generators destined for Tampa Electric's Polk Power station near Mulberry. Components weighing up to a half million pounds for a $700 million plant expansion started arriving at the port last October. The equipment has been stored there and is being shipped to the plant as needed.

The work is an early test for the port, which is expected to do the export work for Manatee County's new Air Products natural gas condenser factory. That company builds energy equipment that tops a million pounds. It is expected to ship its first product by 2016.

For Tampa Electric Co., using Port Manatee was a cost-

saving move. The South Korean-made equipment could have come into Florida via a more distant port or by railroad. But, said Tampa Electric project manager Kris Stryker, any other transportation method would have complicated the job, especially because the equipment had to travel by road for the final leg of its journey. Port Manatee was the closest port to the Polk station at just under 50 miles away.

The steam recovery generators and related equipment will be installed on four peak-power turbines at the power plant. They will be part of a 500 megawatt generation increase at the plant. By harnessing exhaust heat from the four combustion turbines to run the new steam-powered generators, the recovery system will produce two-thirds of that power without burning additional fuel.

The power generated goes primarily to customers in Hillsborough and Polk counties.

Stryker said choosing Port Manatee was particularly beneficial because his company needed space to store the equipment before installation. The equipment was offloaded from cargo ships, then was moved to the port's 10-acre South Port Intermodal Terminal. It was offloaded by Federal Marine Terminals stevedoring crews.

"When we looked to Port Manatee, it was a huge benefit to have the open space to store our stuff," Stryker said during a briefing of the Manatee County Port Authority this week.

Port executive director, Carlos Buqueras, said the job demonstrated the port's usefulness to nearby counties.

"It serves counties inland, those without a direct port," Buqueras said.

The port will earn just over $61,000 in dockage and storage fees for the Tampa Electric project.

The current 260-megawatt Polk power station converts coal to gas before burning it. The process makes it possible for the plant to remove at least 95 percent of greenhouse gas causing sulfur from the coal before the gas is burned.

Matt M. Johnson, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7027, or on Twitter @MattAtBradenton.

This story was originally published March 21, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Generator parts test port's big cargo capacity ."