First Turbine Delivered to Trumbull Energy Center Site
LORDSTOWN, Ohio – Those traveling village roadways Friday may have witnessed an uncommon sight – that of a 650,000-pound natural gas turbine strapped to a giant mobile carrier inching its way along Bailey Road or state Route 45 toward its destination.
That destination is the future site of the Trumbull Energy Center, a more than $1.2 billion natural gas-powered electric generation plant now under construction just off Route 45.
The turbine was shipped into Lordstown by rail and took between four and six hours to navigate the short distance to the site, Mayor Arno Hill said.
“That’s the first turbine for the project,” Hill said. “They should be up and running within three years or less.”
The turbine was carried on top of a 72-wheel motorized platform manufactured by Goldhofer, based in the United Kingdom. Edwards Moving and Rigging handled the move.
A second natural-gas turbine is scheduled for the new electrical plant. And a secondary steam turbine will also be installed there, making Trumbull Energy among the most efficient electrical plants of its kind.
Approximately 15 other components will be delivered to the site in a similar fashion over the next year.
Siemens Energy manufactured the turbines, according to the Trumbull Energy Center’s website.
“The project is anticipated to be one of the cleanest and most efficient CCGT [combined-cycle gas turbine] plants within the PJM market,” the website states.
The Lordstown School District will collect half the income tax from the anticipated 500 construction jobs created as a result of the project, Hill said. The village, he added, received a payment of $890,000 after the project closed on its financing. Both the village and the school district would also receive direct payments from the project after the plant is in operation, he added.
On Oct. 19, the Ohio Power Siting Board approved developer Clean Energy Future-Trumbull LLC’s application for a certificate of public need and environmental compatibility to move forward with the plant. The board also approved its application for a second amendment to the certification.
The project has stirred opposition from within the village over the past two years.
In July, the village filed a complaint before the power siting board requesting it suspend work on the gas-fueled electrical plant because of noncompliance.
The complaint was dismissed with prejudice during the Oct. 19 meeting after the board found “that there are no reasonable grounds to initiate a staff investigation pursuant to allegations raised by the Village of Lordstown in its complaint.”
Pictured at top: The 650,000-pound natural gas turbine was being hauled to the future site of the Trumbull Energy Center on Friday.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
