Construction expected to begin next year on small gas-fired power plant near Garards Fort
WAYNESBURG – A company that develops and operates small, natural gas-fired power plants expects to begin construction on a 20-megawatt power plant mid-2017 in Greene Township.
Bayles Energy LLC, a subsidiary of IMG Midstream of Pittsburgh, received final approval for the project Monday from Greene County Planning Commission.
The company will construct the plant on a 5.6-acre site off Carmichaels Road near Garards Fort. The plant will be capable of generating enough energy to serve about 13,000 homes.
“All natural gas used at the plant will be sourced from the local region,” Kristi Gittins, spokeswoman for IMG Midstream, said in an email response to questions about the project.
IMG Midstream is a privately-owned company that develops, owns and operates small-scale natural gas generation plants.
“Small-scale distributed generation plants have proven to be economically beneficial to the local grid,” Gittins said. “They are a quick start resource with the ability to quickly respond during peak load and other unexpected needs for power on short notice, like a generator outage or unexpected spike in energy demand.”
In comparison to other recently propose and constructed natural gas power plants, IMG plants are indeed small.
A gas power plant proposed by Hilltop Energy for a site near Nemacolin, for instance, will produce 536 megawatts of power. A gas-fired power plant under construction in Westmoreland County by Tenaska Inc. will produce 925 megawatts.
Bayles Energy earlier received an air quality permit for the project from the state Department of Environmental Protection. The plant will employee equipment to reduce emissions.
“IMG utilizes super-efficient lean burn Rolls Royce natural gas engines,” Gittins said. “These engines are coupled with a selective catalyst reduction device which reduces IMG emissions up to 88 percent lower than federal new source performance standards.”
The plant also has been designed to comply fully with local noise ordinances, she said.
The remotely-operated plant is expected to produce power about 60 to 80 percent of the time depending on seasonal fluctuations and market needs.
It will draw natural gas from a natural gas transmission line on site, Gittins said. Its power will be transmitted to an interconnection with an electrical transmission line also on site, she said.
The plant is expected to be completed in mid 2018, Gittins said.
IMG Midstream also has constructed similar plants in Susquehanna County, which began operations in October 2015; and in Bradford County, which went on line in May. The company also has two other plants under construction in Bradford County.