MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. - A natural gas combined-cycle power plant with a nameplate capacity of 549 megawatts will be built on a 37-acre site in Marshall County approximately four miles south of Moundsville, with construction planned to begin in mid 2015, officials at Moundsville Power LLC announced recently. Moundsville Power LLC is a Buffalo, New York-based independent power plant developer.
Moundsville spokesman, Andrew W. Dorn Jr., said Moundsville Power LLC is developing the project, which will cost approximately $615 million. He said that the project will have a very significant positive financial impact on Moundsville, Marshall County and the State of West Virginia. Dorn stated that union craft labor will build the plant and will be managed under a National Maintenance Agreement.
According to an economic impact study performed by Tom S. Witt, PhD of Witt Economics LLC in Morgantown, the project will average more than 400 construction jobs during the estimated 30-month construction period.
The plant will utilize $105 million of natural gas annually sourced from West Virginia producers and processors. Witt projected the annual economic impact during construction would be in excess of $815 million and the plant will have an annual operating impact of over $283 million. Once operational, the plant will employ 30 skilled workers.
Moundsville Power LLC is contracting with a consortium consisting of CH2M Hill and General Electric (GE). The CH2M Hill-led consortium will build the plant and provide construction and operating guarantees. CH2M Hill, a global leader in consulting, design, design-build, construction, operations, and program management with 26,000 employees, will design, engineer and construct the facility. CH2M Hill has successfully built over 19,000 megawatts of power plant production.
GE, one of the world's largest manufacturers of power plant turbines and generators, will provide the natural gas turbines and power island equipment. GE will also provide a long-term contractual services agreement to ensure the efficient operation of the power project.
The plant will use GE 7.04 gas turbines in a two-by one-configuration. The plant will be fuel-efficient and have a small environmental footprint. As a combined-cycle facility, the heat and rotational energy produced by the combustion of natural gas in a gas turbine produces electricity. The exhaust heat from that process is then used to produce steam, which drives a steam turbine to produce additional electricity without the use of additional natural gas.
The project is being built on a 37-acre portion of the former Allied Chemical Plant site that is now owned by Honeywell who has been remediating the site.
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