This flexibility plays a major role in keeping your electric rates low. How it works A combustion turbine is much like a jet engine. In fact, the power-generating equipment evolved as a result of jet engine technology. This highly efficient process produces the most electricity for the amount of fuel used. All are connected on a single shaft.
Natural gas is burned in the gas turbine.
The exhaust enters the heat recovery steam generator, which creates steam using heat from the exhaust. The steam is then used to drive a steam turbine. The gas turbine and steam turbine are coupled to a generator which produces electricity. About 165 megawatts of electricity is produced by the gas turbine, while the steam turbine produces about 83 megawatts, for a total of 248 megawatts on an average annual basis. This type of arrangement is known as a combined-cycle project because it uses both a gas turbine and a steam turbine.