AES Calif. Alamitos 5 natgas unit back in service

NEW YORK, Jan 12 (Reuters) - AES Corp's (AES.N) 485-megawatt Unit 5 at the Alamitos natural gas-fired power station in California returned to service by Sunday afternoon, the California Independent System Operator said in a report.

The unit shut by Jan. 3 for unplanned reasons.

The 1,997 MW Alamitos plant is located in Long Beach in Los Angeles County, about 25 miles south of Los Angeles. There are six units at Alamitos, including two 175 MW Units 1 and 2, the 332 MW Unit 3, the 335 MW Unit 4, the 485 MW Unit 5 and the 495 MW Unit 6.

Unit 1 entered service in 1956, Unit 2 in 1957, Unit 3 in 1961, Unit 4 in 1962, Unit 5 in 1964 and Unit 6 in 1966.

All of the other units were available for service.

One MW powers about 700 homes in California.

AES, of Arlington, Virginia, owns and operates power plants with more than 43,000 MW of generation in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, markets energy commodities, and transmits and distributes power around the world. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by John Picinich)