Construction Begins on $863M Hickory Run Plant
NEW CASTLE, Pa. – Construction has begun on an $863 million gas-fueled electrical generation plant in Lawrence County, nearly five years after the project was announced.
Tyr Energy, a U.S. subsidiary of the Japanese energy giant Itochu, along with partners Kansai Electrical Power Co. and Siemens Group, said Tuesday that work has started at the site of the plant, on the former American Cyanamid property, just off state Route 551 in North Beaver Township.
The Hickory Run Power Station, announced in 2012, was under development by New Jersey-based LS Power. Tyr Energy, the subsidiary of Itochu headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., acquired the project in 2016.
“We’re every excited about this opportunity — an $863 million project with several hundred construction jobs and some good permanent payroll out there,” said Alex McCoy, CEO of the Lawrence County Regional Chamber.
“Looking at the long term, they must anticipate growing demand in the region,” he said.
Royal Dutch Shell’s $6 billion ethane cracker plant in Beaver County is likely to lure additional industry to the region, while the vast supply of natural gas in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays provides a steady supply of fuel to the Hickory Run plant.
“It’s good to have this kind of validation from the private sector,” McCoy said.
Two weeks ago, The Business Journal reported South Korean-based KB Asset Management took a $150 million stake in the project.
According to a news release distributed by Itochu, the combined-cycle plant will provide 1,000 megawatts of power to the region, enough to power nearly one million households. Kiewit Power Constructors is the general contractor.
The company said that it expects the plant will be in service by April 2020. Once operational, Hickory Run will sell power to the PJM energy grid.
The project would create 500 jobs during construction and about 25 full-time jobs when the plant comes online. The primary equipment used will be two Siemens H-class gas turbine generators, two heat recovery steam generators and a Siemens steam turbine generator.
Itochu manages 15 power plants with a gross capacity of 9,000 megawatts. It also provides service to 150 plants with a capacity of 39,000 megawatts.
Hickory Run would be the fifth combined-cycle plant announced for the region over the last three years.
Carroll County Energy is nearing completion of an $800 million natural gas electric generation plant in Carrollton, Ohio.
The $890 million Lordstown Energy Center in Lordstown, Ohio, is under construction in Trumbull County, and plans were announced last year for a second such plant at the Lordstown Industrial Park.
Another project, the South Field Energy Station in Wellsville, Ohio in Columbiana County, is a $1.1 billion under the auspices of Advanced Power AG and is still in the planning stages.
MORE:
Aug. 15, 2017: Korean Firm to Invest $150M in Lawrence County Power Plant
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
