en.Wedoany.com Reported - Basin Electric Power Cooperative, together with its engineering partner Burns & McDonnell, completed on schedule the Pioneer Generation Station Phase IV (PGS IV) expansion project northwest of Williston, North Dakota. The project, a 580-MW simple-cycle gas turbine and reciprocating engine expansion, has been named a finalist in the gas-fired category for POWER's Top Plant award.
The expansion was driven by rapidly growing electricity demand in the Bakken region. In early 2022, the cooperative projected that local load growth would exceed previous forecasts by more than 300 MW, requiring new generating capacity by summer 2025 to meet member system supply needs and avoid the risk of defaulting on generation commitments to the Southwest Power Pool Regional Transmission Organization.
Traditional multi-year new plant development timelines could not meet this deadline. The two companies adopted a fast-track development plan paired with a progressive "open-to-closed book" engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) model. Jim Lund, senior mechanical engineer at Basin Electric, noted that the two companies have partnered for more than 50 years, and with construction subsidiary AZCO for more than 25 years—long-standing relationships that allowed the EPC project plan to align with Basin's schedule and financial goals. AZCO's scope of work included mechanical installation of six 18-MW Wärtsilä W18V50SG reciprocating engines and two 240-MW Siemens Energy STG6-PAC-5000F gas turbines.
The project proceeded according to the established plan. Basin Electric's board approved the procurement of gas turbines, reciprocating engines, and generator step-up transformers before the final total project cost was determined, securing equipment production line slots. The company also self-performed a 17-mile, 345-kV transmission line project running parallel to the generation project, connecting the new facility to its own grid.
Construction broke ground in March 2023, with the first structural steel erected five months later. The team prefabricated 3,158 spools of piping and 100 tons of structural steel offsite and used specialized equipment to excavate frozen ground. By resequencing construction tasks, supply chain disruptions and equipment delays did not affect the final completion date of August 2025.
The project required integrating two different power generation technologies adjacent to an existing 803-MW natural gas plant—effectively building two greenfield sites one mile apart on a brownfield, with the integration of control systems with existing utility infrastructure being a major engineering challenge. The two parties operated under a "one team" philosophy, coordinating Basin Electric, Burns & McDonnell, Siemens Energy, and Wärtsilä around project goals. The final expansion cost came in $10 million under budget.
On the safety front, the project achieved more than one million consecutive work hours without a recordable incident, with a total recordable incident rate (TRIR) of 0.54. Peak construction staffing approached 500 workers, with cumulative hours exceeding 1.6 million. Burns & McDonnell stated that the site's practices laid the foundation for its "Live Safer" program.
PGS IV is the largest single-site power generation project in North Dakota in 40 years. The project team raised more than $50,000 for the Eckert Youth Home, supporting at-risk youth in the Williston community. Gavin McCollam, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Basin Electric, said the project was completed on time and within budget, consistent with the cooperative's mission of providing energy to rural America.
