Marshall Municipal Utilities

Unit 6

Unit 6 is a 15.2 MW combustion turbine that was installed in 1973. It operates on natural gas or No. 2 fuel oil. It is very expensive to operate so it is used only in emergencies or during periods of high electric loads. It is a peaking unit that can be started and loaded in 30 minutes. In the summer, we have historically started this unit 30 to 50 days and run it for several hours each day. Due to changes in wholsale service from KCPL, it is expected that this unit will be operated more beginning in 2005. It is rarely used in the winter, but the ability to operate it during winter months is a critical part of our operation.

This unit also has emergency black-start batteries that allow us to start the unit without needing any outside power source. Unit 6 is housed in a separate building located next to the power plant.