The heart of the Milner Gas Expansion project — a 200MW simple-cycle natural gas power unit built to enable the decommission of an active coal-fired unit on the same site — was grey market centerline equipment that spent eight years in storage in Utah before construction.

This equipment presented some unique challenges for PCL’s construction team. Beyond just installing the unit, we also had to update it after almost a decade in storage, to meet Canadian and Albertan pressure vessel and electrical regulations. We met ABSA and CSA requirements and certifications, and identified and sourced replacement parts due to age or product changes over the storage period. The PCL Fabrication Facility was brought in to fabricate replacement OEM piping so that we could meet ABSA requirements without delaying the construction schedule. Finally, the equipment was not originally decided for the Northern Canadian climate where it may need to operate in temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius, so our team also had to outfit the equipment for the cold as well. Finally, all this had to be integrated into the control room and electrical distribution of a 40-year-old plant that was still operating.

The result was a new unit that started up smoothly at nameplate and was finished ahead of schedule in just 17 months of construction.