Houston area to get natural gas peaking plant

November 7, 2014 | By

Construction has begun on an approximately 360 MW natural gas-fired peaking plant near Bacliff, Texas, southeast of Houston that, when completed, will produce enough electricity to power an additional 72,000 Texas homes when needed most during times of peak demand.

"NRG is working hard to meet the electricity needs of the Houston area today and in the future as our region continues to grow," said John Ragan, executive vice president of NRG and president of NRG's Gulf Coast Region. "The Houston area and, in fact the entire state, is challenged with shrinking reserve margins. Rather than building costly new transmission lines and impacting hundreds of private property owners, NRG is investing in new generation, close to the homes and businesses that need it. This is the most efficient, cost-effective way to ensure reliability for this region."

The fast-start combustion turbines offer the potential to help integrate renewable power from intermittent wind and solar generation into the ERCOT grid.

"While Texas needs this additional, flexible power, the low price of power in the state makes it very difficult to finance and build new power plants," said Ragan. "We have worked hard to make these units economic so that we can add them with no ratepayer dollars involved."

NRG is constructing the project at a significant discount compared to new builds at a cost of approximately $400 per kilowatt.

In addition to the peaking plant, NRG is in final stages of the permitting process for two large natural gas-fired plants in the Houston region -- a new 850 MW combined cycle plant for which it has already been granted a permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and a second 850 MW facility for which it expects to receive environmental permits in early 2015.

"When economics allow us to build these additional units, NRG wants to be ready to bring them online as quickly as possible to meet the growing demand in Houston with new natural gas plants," Ragan said.

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