Nov 7 2014
NRG Energy, Inc. today announced that construction has begun on an approximately 360 megawatt1, natural gas-fired peaking plant at a site near Bacliff, Texas, southeast of Houston. When completed, the units will produce enough electricity to power an additional 72,000 Texas homes when needed most during times of peak demand.
“NRG is working hard to meet the electricity needs of the Houston area today and in the future as our region continues to grow,” said John Ragan, executive vice president of NRG and president of NRG’s Gulf Coast Region. “The Houston area and, in fact the entire state, is challenged with shrinking reserve margins. Rather than building costly new transmission lines and impacting hundreds of private property owners, NRG is investing in new generation, close to the homes and businesses that need it. This is the most efficient, cost-effective way to ensure reliability for this region.”
The new facility will be located on a 230-acre site which was once part of the former PH Robinson power plant. It will use natural gas to power six GE 7E, economical, fast-start combustion turbines. The units require no water for cooling making them well-suited to operate in water-constrained Texas. With their fast-start capability, the peaking units have the potential to help integrate renewable power from intermittent wind and solar generation into the ERCOT grid. The air permitting process began in 2013 and was granted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in August 2014.
The project will benefit from a number of unique advantages which allow NRG to construct the project at a cost of approximately $400 per kilowatt, a significant discount to typical new build costs. Specifically, the gas turbines will be relocated from a site in New Albany, Mississippi to the Houston area at a location NRG already owns and is immediately adjacent to the switchyard where they expect to connect to the transmission grid.
“While Texas needs this additional, flexible power, the low price of power in the state makes it very difficult to finance and build new power plants,” added Ragan. “We have worked hard to make these units economic so that we can add them with no ratepayer dollars involved.”
The facility will be built by a partnership between BTEC Turbines and Rockland Capital, the current owners of the New Albany plant. BTEC is experienced in upgrading and relocating gas turbines. For the Bacliff project, BTEC will perform the engineering, procurement and construction of the new power plant which includes the dismantling and shipment of the turbines from Mississippi. The plant is expected to be transferred to NRG upon completion. BTEC estimates the plant will generate approximately 200 jobs at the peak of construction and is anticipated to be completed in late 2015.
In addition, NRG is in final stages of the permitting process for two large natural gas-fired plants in the Houston region. The company has been granted a permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for a new 850 megawatt combined cycle plant and expects to receive environmental permits for a second 850 megawatt facility in early 2015.
“When economics allow us to build these additional units, NRG wants to be ready to bring them online as quickly as possible to meet the growing demand in Houston with new natural gas plants,” Ragan added.
Source: http://www.nrgenergy.com/