Ames Power Plant Tour
The April Section meeting will be a tour of the Ames Power Plant at 200 E 5th St, Ames, IA 50010.
Our tour will be led by Sam Feucht, Power Plant Engineer, Electric Services | City of Ames
The Ames Power Plant is a vital city government facility responsible for providing essential electric services to the community. Nestled within the heart of the city, this facility plays a crucial role in ensuring residents have access to reliable and efficient power supply for their daily needs.
The tour will cover a short introduction, an explanation of our existing generation portfolio, and some utility history. The tour will explore the turbine deck to look at the turbine-generators, visit the top of Unit 8’s boiler to look at the steam drum and support structure, go to the roof of the plant (weather-permitting) to see some of the other sites, and check out the control room.
The Ames Power Plant houses two active steam turbine-generators and supporting equipment. These are named Unit 7 and Unit 8. Unit 7 was commissioned in 1967 and has a nameplate rating of 33 MW and a tested maximum of ~40 MW. Unit 8 was commissioned in 1982 and has a nameplate rating of 65 MW and a tested maximum of ~70 MW. These units co-fire natural gas and Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) on a 9:1 by heat input (7:3 by mass input). The plant completed a project to convert from coal to natural gas firing in 2016. Burning RDF has brought some challenges to operation and maintenance, especially post-conversion. The plant also houses two retired units named Unit 5 and Unit 6. These were coal-fired steam-turbine generators that were retired in place in 1986. The boilers and turbine-generators still sit in their original locations, but the supporting equipment is all gone and the space has been re-purposed for maintenance and storage. The Power plant has two combustion turbines located at a site a mile to the east of the main plant, named GT1 and GT2. GT1 is a Worthington packaged unit was commissioned in 1972 and has a nameplate rating of ~17 MW. It’s composed of a Pratt & Whitney FT4 engine that is thrust coupled to a Worthington EA-214 power turbine. GT2 was commissioned in 2005 and has nameplate rating of ~27 MW. This is a GE unit employing an LM2500+ DLE engine that is thrust coupled to a GE free turbine.
Date and Time
Location
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Registration
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- Starts 11 April 2026 03:15 AM UTC
- Ends 16 April 2026 10:30 PM UTC
- No Admission Charge
Speakers
Sam of Electric Services | City of Ames
Ames Power Plant Tour
Sam Feucht has been with the City of Ames for a total of five years now, one as a power plant engineering intern and four as a power plant engineer. Sam studied Mechanical Engineering at Iowa State and graduated with a bachelor’s in 2021. Sam took the power plant engineering co-op in senior year of college and loved it. Sam’s biggest interests in college were thermodynamics and turbomachinery, so the position was a perfect fit. After graduation Sam worked at a SCADA company out of Minneapolis for about 8 months before coming back full time to Ames. Sam mostly works on capital projects but helps with smaller, non-capital projects as needed. The projects tend to be focused on controls, air emissions, and major equipment operation.
Sam Feucht
Power Plant Engineer
Electric Services | City of Ames
Phone: 515.239.5290
Biography:
Sam studied Mechanical Engineering at Iowa State and graduated with a bachelor’s in 2021. Sam took the power plant engineering co-op in senior year of college and loved it. His biggest interests in college were thermodynamics and turbomachinery, so the position was a perfect fit. After graduation, Sam worked at a SCADA company out of Minneapolis for about 8 months before coming back full time to Ames. Sam mostly works on capital projects but helps with smaller, non-capital projects as needed. The projects tend to be focused on controls, air emissions, and major equipment operation.
Sam’s one-year wedding anniversary is coming up at the end of May. Sam’s wife is from Ames but went to the University of Iowa for undergrad and is working on her doctorate in Applied Mathematics at Iowa State and will defend in mid-July. They live in Ames and enjoy visiting our family and friends in central Iowa, getting outdoors, and watching movies or shows.
Email:
Address:200 E 5th St, Electric Services | City of Ames, Ames, Iowa, United States, 50010
Agenda
5:45 PM – 6:00 PM Assemble at the front entry double doors on the NW side of the Ames Power plant.
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM Presentation and Tour
Registration for this meeting is not required but requested so our tour leader can plan the presentation. Please register for this meeting by clicking the Register Now button above and entering your contact information.