Case Study: Harquahala Generating Project, LLC - Tonopah, AZ

By HPD, a Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Company

The Harquahala Generating Project is a 1000 MW combined cycle power facility located in Maricopa County, Arizona. Commissioned in 2003, the plant was designed to utilize water resources from either the Colorado River via the Central Arizona Project (CAP) aqueduct or from a local groundwater source. This gas-fired plant would be a major supplier of wholesale energy to the region.

Water resources are a crucial component in this power generation facility. They needed to be managed in an efficient manner while providing a reliable supply of reclaimed water, primarily for cooling tower makeup.

Treatment of the water for upstream plant use and the subsequent waste generation from the process were critical to facility operations. Protection of the environment was another equally important consideration when designing this system. Harquahala is a Zero Liquid Discharge facility where no aqueous waste is permitted.

HPD, with these objectives in mind, used decades of experience in process design and project management to build the complete wastewater facility. HPD was instrumental in the design and the focal point for this project as a leader in evaporation and crystallization technology.