CSR Mercuria 2018 - Flipbook - Page 54
DANSKAMMER GENERATING
STATION Newburgh, New York
The Danskammer Generating Station is located in the Lower Hudson Valley on the shore
of the Hudson River, approximately 66 miles
upstream of New York City. The facility consists of a total of four steam powered electric
generators (the first of which started operation
in 1951) with a combined generating capacity
of just over 500 MW. The facility was originally built and operated by Central Hudson Gas
& Electric, and was later acquired by Dynegy
Northeast Generation in 2001. In 2011, Dynegy
had declared bankruptcy and was engaged in
a labor dispute. And then in late October, 2012,
Hurricane Sandy hit the New England area.
The storm surge combined with high tide conditions resulted in the river overflowing its banks,
and flooding the lower levels of all four boiler
units. This resulted in significant damage to
motors, pumps, switchgear and wiring. After
assessing the damage and with other issues
the company was facing, Dynegy essentially
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abandoned the facility which then sat through
two of the region’s coldest winters on record
further adding extensive freeze damage to the
equipment.
In October 2013, Houston-based Helios Power Capital LLC acquired the property through a
bankruptcy auction with Mercuria initially backing the project as a lender. Mercuria subsequently took ownership when Helios dropped
out of the project in 2014. Concurrently, there
was also a shift in the structure of the local
electric market which created a commercial
need for generation capacity in the area.
While there was no certainty in the project at
the time, Mercuria recognized the market opportunity that had been created—and set out to
seize upon it. In taking ownership of the facility, Mercuria managed the (1) assembly of work
teams, (2) repair of flood and freeze damage
