Harrison County Community Improvement Corp (CIC) has been working with the Texan village of Cadiz to make Houston-based EmberClear advance its 1,000 MW combined-cycle power project. CIC said it would help EmberClear with obtaining necessary permits, with the CCGT set to be fuelled with low-cost shale gas from nearby resources. Financial close and start of construction is scheduled for Q3-2018.
“We were in competition with other counties for this project,” Nick Homrighausen, CIC executive director said, expressing confidence that “through the collaborative efforts of my office and the county commissioners, we were able to land this viable project in Harrison County.”
EmberClear CEO Raj Suri pointed out that the proposed generating facility will provide enough electricity to power 1 million homes and bring capital investment of over $900 million to Harrison County.
Start-up targeted for 2021
As a project site, the developer has signalled out a 60 acres lot in the Harrison County Industrial Park, close to Cadiz, some 120 miles southwest of San Antonio. Up to 500 construction jobs will be created during a three-year period, followed by about 30 permanent jobs to support the plant’s operation.
Several gas pipelines – operated by Dominion East Ohio, Spectra, Energy Transfer and Columbia – are located within 10 miles of the proposed site to serve the facility, as well as processing plants which opens up options to supply other fuel types.
The future plant operator EmberClear said it seeks to get the CCGT ready to start full commercial operation in 2021.
All electricity produced at the plant will be fed via the local utility AEP into the PJM West zone of the regional transmission operator. AEP said it is investing over $3.5 billion to upgrade electric infrastructure around Harrison.