Natural Gas Turbine Generation

Northland uses natural gas turbine technology to produce large amounts of electricity in an efficient, reliable, and environmentally-responsible manner. We design and own facilities that generate power in one of three modes: simple cycle, combined cycle and co-generation.

In a simple cycle gas turbine (SCGT), natural gas combustion produces thermal energy to drive a turbine that in turn drives an electrical generator to produce electricity.

Because they can be started or stopped quickly in response to changing demand, SCGTs are used in peaking plants to fill in the gaps in intermittent sources of power, such as wind, and to protect against unexpected outages at other generating stations or to overcome transmission bottlenecks or constraints. Northland’s Kirkland Lake facility uses a General Electric LM 2500 Plus gas turbine in simple cycle mode for one of its four turbines. Our Spy Hill, Saskatchewan plant also uses a simple cycle gas turbine.

In a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT), electrical energy is produced in two stages. In stage 1, gas is combusted in the gas turbine which turns a generator. In stage 2, a heat recovery system captures waste heat from the gas turbine exhaust and creates steam to drive a steam turbine to produce additional electricity. CCGT plants are more efficient than SCGT plants, but are more costly to build.

CCGT projects are best suited for situations where they will be operated for extended periods of time, rather than being required to start quickly or often. Northland’s Kirkland Lake, Cochrane, Kingston and Thorold plants use CCGT technology.

CCGT technology can also be used in cogeneration mode. In that configuration, steam is further used in an industrial process or as a heat source. This enables additional energy to be extracted, making it the most efficient form of gas-fired generation, but are more costly to build. Northland’s Iroquois Falls, Kingston and Thorold projects all use CCGT cogeneration technology.