Natural gas power plant to be built in West Virginia

MOUNDSVILLE, West Virginia -- 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 have announced.  

Moundsville Power is a Buffalo, New York-based independent power plant developer. The plant will utilize $105 million of natural gas annually sourced from West Virginia producers and processors.  

"As a County Commission we are pleased that this project is planning to use locally produced gas to create jobs and investment in Marshall County," stated Marshall County Commissioner Don Mason.

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 will design, engineer and construct the facility.  

GE 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.

"Our natural gas producers are supplying energy for America, said Corky DeMarco, Executive Director of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association.  "This merchant power plant is manufacturing a product that uses Marcellus shale to create jobs in the Mountain State."

West Virginia Senate President followed by saying, "West Virginia has worked hard to bring new projects like Moundsville Power to our state that utilize abundant shale gas.  This is one more project that shows that our state is open to new business opportunities."

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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