New Underground Facility

The Project

TransGas Energy Systems LLC (TGE) is proposing to construct and operate the TransGas Energy Facility (the Project or Facility), a 1,100-megawatt (MW) cogeneration facility on the East River between the Greenpoint and Williamsburg's North Side sections of Brooklyn. The proposed Facility will also be capable of producing up to 2 million pounds per hour (mmlbs/hr) of steam for export to Con Edison's steam distribution system in Manhattan . Prior to construction and operation of the Project, TGE must, pursuant to Article X of the Public Service Law, obtain a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need (Certificate) from the New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment (Siting Board). An Article X Application for the Project was filed in December 2002, and following the submittal of additional information, the Application was determined to be in compliance with New York Public Service Law § 164 in June 2003. The hearing process commenced in July 2003 and concluded with a recommended decision in April 2004. This document constitutes an Amendment of the Article X Application, as provided for in the Siting Board Order issued on September 15, 2004. Review of the Project is proceeding under Siting Board Case No. 01-F-1276.

This Amendment to the Article X Application presents an underground design for the proposed Project. This underground design was developed to mitigate the perceived land use and visual impacts from the original aboveground design for the Project. Except for the replacement of the air-cooled condenser with a once-through cooling water system, nearly all of the plant components and operating characteristics remain unchanged from the original aboveground design.
The Siting Board Order issued on September 15, 2004 also requires:

A discussion of the feasibility of the mitigation proposal [underground design], in the event that the City decides against granting the revocable consents and/or authorizing the interconnections required for use of Newtown Creek WPCP effluent as cooling water. (Order at p. 11)

To address this requirement of the Order, TGE requests the following authorizations: First, TGE requests that the certificate authorize a six-month period for TGE to negotiate with New York City for the use of Newtown Creek WPCP effluent. If New York City continues to refuse to provide the effluent, then TGE would be authorized in the certificate to substitute noncondensing “topping” turbines for the steam turbine generators, which would eliminate the need for condenser cooling and once-through cooling water. The Facility would operate solely in the cogeneration mode, producing electricity and steam, as would the East River Repowering Project being built by Con Edison. Newtown Creek WPCP effluent, however, would no longer be needed. With this modified configuration, steam output is maintained with only a minimal reduction in electricity generation, and the balance of the plant equipment remains unchanged.

As described in the Article X Application the Facility will be fueled primarily by natural gas with very low-sulfur distillate as a backup fuel. Natural gas will be delivered by pipeline operated by KeySpan Energy Delivery (KeySpan), operator of the local natural gas system. Backup fuel oil will be delivered to the Project site via an existing on-site petroleum pipeline operated by the Buckeye Pipeline Company and barge deliveries. The Facility will provide electric power to the New York City transmission cable system operated by the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO). Power will be delivered at the highest system voltage, 345 kilovolts (kV), connecting to nearby existing underground cables.

As described in the Article X Application, the proposed Facility will be located on an approximately 8-acre site at the existing Bayside Oil Terminal at North 12th Street and Kent Avenue , in Brooklyn, New York . The proposed Project site has excellent attributes for a cogeneration plant. The site is heavily contaminated, and will be remediated as part of Project construction.
The balance of Section 1.0 of the Article X Application is not amended except that the Board required TGE to update its projection of cost savings and pollution reductions using the Multi-Area Production Simulation (MAPS) model, and to provide additional information concerning electric system benefits. These revised MAPS results are presented in Section 16.3 of this Amendment and the additional information on electric system benefits is provided in Section 16.4.

The Siting Board Order of September 15, 2004
In the Order, the Board noted that the examiners had concluded, among other things, “…that construction and operation of the proposed facility would result in adverse visual impacts and would be incompatible with the city's future land use plans for the Greenpoint and Williamsburg waterfront” (Order at p. 3). In response to the Recommended Decision issued on April 1, 2003 TGE made several filings in May, June and July 2004 describing how it would mitigate or avoid these alleged impacts by placing most aboveground structures underground and providing New York City with an approximately 7-acre park above the underground Facility. Much of the information presented in those previous filings is incorporated in this Amendment.

The Board also stated that TGE must file an amendment in accordance with the Board's regulations, and also addressing various issues identified by the Board. This Amendment explains the underground design. Pursuant to guidance provided by New York Department of Public Service (DPS) Staff, the Amendment does not repeat unnecessarily what is currently in the Article X Application, and which is not proposed to be amended. Rather, the Amendment states where the original proposal as described in the Article X Application would change based upon building most of the Facility underground The Siting Board Order issued on September 15, 2004 did not request TGE to propose new certificate conditions. Based upon the compiled record and briefs that have been filed in the proceeding, TGE is prepared, upon the request of the Examiners, to update the proposed certificate conditions for the Project, asamended.
New York City Leading in Innovative Design

TGE's proposal for the underground energy generating facility, while dramatic in creating new expectations for modern energy facilities, is founded on the proven design and the technology used for building underground within a “bathtub”. It is similar to the technology used at the World Trade Center and Battery Park City sites in lower Manhattan, and elsewhere at the Convention Center in Washington DC and the “Big Dig” Central Artery in Boston. New York's leadership in underground design follows a long line of successful and highly visible projects, from Roebling's revolutionary Brooklyn Bridge caissons to the subterranean cogeneration facility at Battery Park City. New York is also a leader in co-locating infrastructure and parkland such as the popular Riverbank State Park atop Manhattan's largest waste water treatment facility, at West 138th and 145 th Streets, in the proposed Croton filtration plant to be built beneath Van Cortland Park's Mosholu Golf Course, and NYCDEP's buried 100 million gallon Silver Lake storage tank beneath a Staten Island park, or its 40 million gallon sewer storage tank beneath a recreational area in Queens. See Appendix A .

View the Amendment to the Application for a Certificate of Environmental
Compatibility and Public Need Pursuant to Article X of the New York
State Public Service Law TEXT in.pdf

View the Public Notice in.doc

View the Amendment to the Application for a Certificate of Environmental
Compatibility and Public Need Pursuant to Article X of the New York
State Public Service Law FIGURES in.pdf

View the Engineering Feasibility Report TEXT in.pdf (June 30, 2004)

View the Engineering Feasibility Report FIGURES in.pdf

View the Engineering Feasibility Report APPENDICES in.pdf