Gas-Turbine Peaking Power Plants and Future Outlook

The considerations justifying peaking power plants have been discussed in numerous publications, some of which are referenced in the Appendix. With the acceptance of the gas turbine by various utilities as a suitable prime mover for use in peaking service, a relatively inexpensive machine became available in reasonably large blocks of power. The most recent concept in peaking service is equipment for peak shaving. This is that facet of a utility operation of shaving the peak off the top of a load duration curve. This involves equipment that can be installed at a very nominal investment per kilowatt and maintained at a minimum cost; for example, a remote unattended unit with low standby cost and an overhaul period of 5 years or more. This is readily obtainable with a normal operating period of 500 to 1000 hr per year in peak shaving service.