An option to purchase 300 acres of land in Berry Hill Industrial Park allows Southern Power to invest around $250 million in realising a combined-cycle power plant in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. The site has easy access to the Williams Transco intercontinental gas pipeline.
Asked about the timeline of construction works and whether there was a gas offtake agreement in place with Transco, the future power plant operator was not willing to disclose any details. It also did not state the envisaged capacity of the power plant.
It stated that the land purchase option for the power plant site had been arrange with Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facility Authority (RIFA) in June, which suggests that project planning is well advance.
While Southern Power is not ready to discuss a timeline or jobs at the plant, when completed — Pittsylvania County administers see the potential for “hundreds of jobs” during construction of the plant.
“Berry Hill Industrial Park was specifically developed for these types of large projects,” Jessie Barksdale, chairman of both RIFA and the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors, stated. “This project has the potential to represent the largest single private investment ever in Pittsylvania County.”
Southern Company has been in the power generation business since the early 1900s and owns several major US utilities, including Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power and Mississippi Power, as well as Southern Power. Together with its subsidiaries, Southern Power own or have the rights to 39 facilities operating or under construction in 10 states with more than 10,800 MW of generating capacity.