Japan's Jera to Develop US Gas-Fired Plant

Japan's Jera -- the 50-50 supply and trading joint venture of Tokyo Electric and Chubu Electric -- is to participate in a natural gas-fired power plant project in New York state through its operating company Cricket Valley Energy Center.

Cricket Valley will build a 1,100 megawatt combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant at Dover, Dutchess County, New York, targeting start-up of commercial operations in 2020, said Jera January 25. The power produced will be sold on the wholesale electricity market in New York.

An artists' impression of the proposed power plant (Credit: Bechtel)

Jera acquired an equity stake of approximately 44% in the operating company, becoming its largest investor. It is the first new power generation project outside Japan in which Jera will take part.

Engineering, procurement, and construction major Bechtel has bagged the contract to design and build the new, natural-gas fired power plant. Bechtel is responsible for the engineering, procurement, and construction of the generating facility, which will use General Electric power generation equipment including three combustion turbines, each paired with a heat recovery steam generator and steam turbine generator. Bechtel’s financing and development arm, Bechtel Enterprises, partnered with Cricket Valley to complete the development of the project. 

US fund manager BlackRock said in August 2016 that funds under its management had entered an agreement to invest 10% of the CCGT project cost.

 Shardul Sharma