BWP’s Magnolia Power Plant is the only plant in the world to operate on 100 percent recycled water.
The Magnolia Power Plant (MPP) was awarded the 2005 International Power Plant of the Year and is truly unique in the world. Two state-of-the-art water treatment systems allow MPP to operate on 100 percent recycled water, over 1 million gallons per day, and prevent any water from being discharged into the storm drains and out to our oceans.
MPP significantly increases the amount of local electricity generation in Southern California, improving regional electric reliability and reducing reliance on long-distance transmission lines for energy delivery. Locating the power plant close to the demand center (the homes and businesses that will ultimately use the electricity) reduces losses that normally occur when sending electricity over major transmission lines by as much as 50 percent. This strategy helps serve consumers more efficiently and cost-effectively.
The new Magnolia plant is twice as efficient and produces 98 percent fewer emissions than the old units it replaced. It replaced four units with the total capacity of 115 MW, however, it only uses a third of the fuel they consumed. Besides controlling nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide emissions, the use of MPP also results in lower overall operating costs.
Learn more about the Magnolia Power Plant by clicking the links below.
- How it Works
A combined cycle power plant uses one fuel source to power two electric generators. MPP uses natural gas to spin a combustion turbine generator; heat from igniting the natural gas is then recovered to power a steam turbine generator. It is comprised of a combustion turbine generator which has the ability to boost plant output by nine percent on warm days, a heat recovery steam generator that allows the unit to create steam regardless of the plant’s operating profile, a steam turbine generator, cooling towers, a zero liquid discharge system and the control and services building and stack.
- Reclaimed Water Treatment System-Zero Liquid Discharge
MPP uses over one million gallons of recycled water daily. To serve all the water needs of the plant, BWP installed two innovative water treatment systems. One system treats recycled water through micro-filtration, reverse osmosis and demineralization processes to produce water pure enough for use in BWP's power plant boilers. The zero liquid discharge system collects solids from the plant's cooling towers for disposal and prevents any water from being discharged from the cooling towers into our storm drains and out to our oceans.
