Company wants to build natural gas power plant
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A Bucks County start-up company wants to build a small natural gas-fired power plant in Chartiers Township that would use locally produced natural gas to supply power to the electric grid.
IMG Midstream of Yardley is proposing to construct its Red Glen Energy site on three acres of land adjacent to the existing MarkWest Energy natural gas processing plant along Route 519.
IMG spokeswoman Kristi Gittins said in an email Wednesday that the Red Glen site engines and generator will be fully enclosed in a 70-by-100-foot metal building. While the company has a three-acre site, she said, the Red Glen project would use only about one acre.
“The Chartiers Township site will be located adjacent to the existing MarkWest plant to take advantage of existing infrastructure,” Gittins said. “Very minimal, if any, additional infrastructure will be needed.”
She said Red Glen is currently in the permitting stage.
“The total construction time is six to seven months, and is estimated to start in late 2015,” she said, adding that the project is being announced now because of the time needed to secure permits.
She said other IMG sites in Northeastern Pennsylvania will start construction this year.
According to Gittins, the site will utilize multiple reciprocating internal combustion engines and a generator to turn natural gas into electricity for a projected output of up to 20 megawatts, which could supply power to about 13,000 homes.
Last month, IMG confirmed that it also wants to build a 20 MW natural gas power plant known as the Bayles Energy project in Greene Township in Greene County.
The company also said in December it is planning similar projects in Wyoming, Susquehanna and Clarion counties, as well as another in West Virginia.
“IMG was founded with the goal of reinvesting the energy created by local gas production back into the community through small-scale local power generation,” Gittins said.
IMG, which is backed by private equity firm Bregal Energy in New York, signed a deal in August with Chief Oil & Gas, a Marcellus gas producer, to supply several of IMG’s generation plants in northeastern Pennsylvania.
Gittins said Wednesday that IMG is currently in discussion with local gas producers to supply gas to the Chartiers Township project.
She noted that the design of the Red Glen site is slightly different than IMG’s other proposed sites to enable the use of either ethane or methane as its fuel.
“We want to give local potential gas suppliers additional delivery options for their ethane as well,” she said.