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Articles | 01.03.25

Linden Station is comprised of Linden CT and CC sub-plants. Linden CC consists of two separate 2X1 combined cycle units based on GE 7FA gas turbines, with a combined generating capacity of 1,300 MW. Linden is owned by Parkway Generation, LLC and is operated by CAMS.

Linden CC is located in an area designated by the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas as a “high water risk” area based on water availability, water quality, and regulatory\reputational risk. However, the plant operational commitments require a large amount of water. Traditionally, combined cycle plants meet their water requirements through the uptake and discharge of water to the surrounding environment. However, Linden CC wanted to minimize the environmental impact of its operations in this resource-constrained area. They opted to use grey water, a beneficial reuse water (BRUW), as its non-contact cooling water source, thus eliminating the need to utilize surface water, groundwater, or city water for this process. Linden’s use of BRUW for cooling purposes has a positive impact on the community as it helps the local municipal supplier reserve more water for its residential customers. At the same time, aquatic wildlife is protected since the plant does not use cooling water intake structures and because the BRUW is recycled after use, discharge to Arthur Kill is not necessary.

Linden CC strives to maximize the use of BRUW, ultimately offsetting the use of alternate water sources by as much as 800 million to 1.3 OPERATIONS &MAINTENANCE billion gallons per year. The grey water has limited other beneficial uses and would otherwise be discharged back to the environment.

The BRUW is sourced from the Linden-Roselle Sewerage Authority (LRSA). After the water is processed through LRSA’s system it is discharged from their final ultra violet treatment bed to an outfall area. Linden CC pumps the water across the LRSA property to a gravity fed sand filter system. There the water is “polished” to remove any additional solids. A small portion of the water is returned to the LRSA influent where it then passes through the LRSA process again. The rest of the “polished” water is forwarded to the plant for use as noncontact cooling water in the cooling towers. After the water is cycled several times in the cooling towers, it is returned to the LRSA for treatment. Linden CC maintains chemistry in this system with the addition of sodium hypochlorite (bleach) as needed to help keep the sand filter station in proper order and to maintain water quality within the cooling towers. The process is monitored continuously for proper operation from the LRSA side pump station to the return of the discharge at the LRSA’s influent. The system and water quality are maintained by both station personnel and support staff specifically qualified to ensure the system is optimally maintained.

The BRUW program at Linden CC is an example of how CAMS sustainably operates and manages its facilities. Our plant management teams proactively seek opportunities to provide reliable energy services while making positive contributions to their communities and minimizing environmental impacts.

Articles | 06.24.21

By Matthew Pacobit, Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs

We have been getting many questions from clients about cybersecurity and the cyberattacks that have been widely reported in recent news. Most clients want to know why these attacks are happening all of a sudden and whether or not their plant is vulnerable.

To begin, the media may have just started reporting some of these high-profile attacks, but if you read public companies past disclosures, you will find that this has been going on for years. Additionally, cyberattacks have been growing exponentially and with the rise of cryptocurrency, criminals are now able to demand payments that are almost completely untraceable.

With regards to the vulnerability of clients’ plants, the answer is a bit more complicated and there are a few key points that need to be made clear.

First, all power plant control systems are vulnerable and there is no such thing as a perfectly secure system. Even systems that are air-gaped are still at risk of transient cyber assets and removable media (laptops, tablets, phones, USBs, etc.).

Second, power plant control systems are not the same as IT business networks. Plant control systems are made up of many customized components from a wide variety of venders. Some of these components might be off-the-shelf computers, but they cannot be secured using the same solutions as business network computers. I have seen firsthand, a cybersecurity software try to request information from a plant controller on an operation network. The controller interpreted it as an unknown error, failed, and triggered a backup. The software then did the same thing to the backup and took down the entire system.

Because of the risk to the control system, the CAMS cybersecurity team separates out the business network from the operational network when looking at cybersecurity solutions. Most of our clients currently use CAMS Bluewire Technologies for their business network cybersecurity, however, each operational network is unique. There needs to be a discussion on risk mitigation vs. cost for each control system and each cybersecurity solution. Some control systems can be secured with a firewall or data diode, while others are better off with firewall monitoring and/or whitelisting. Additionally, most power plant control systems have at least some components and software that are older than 5-10 years, so determining the right fit is a personalized process.

In the end, securing the power plant control system not only reduces the risk of down time but also reduces the risk of equipment damage, making cybersecurity and risk mitigation worth the cost.

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