Artist's rendition
Located in the MD of Rocky View approximately 10 km north of the City of Airdrie, the Crossfield Energy Centre “peaking” facility is designed to meet seasonal and daily peak power requirements. The 120 megawatt simple cycle natural gas-fired facility was completed in December 2009 to help meet southern Alberta’s growing demand for power.
The Crossfield Energy Centre is dispatched to produce electricity into the Alberta grid during high power consumption periods. These generally occur in the daytime, and seasonally are highest during high summer or low winter temperatures. Depending on weather, load growth and customer demand, the Crossfield Energy Centre typically operates about 15 to 45 per cent of the time, or approximately 1,300 to 3,800 hours per year. Simple-cycle technology is typically favoured for meeting peak loads as the turbines can ramp up quickly to achieve full generation capacity.