Sunbury pipeline nears completion in Pennsylvania
From an Article by Marie Cusick, PA StateImpact NPR, December 22, 2016
The coal plant in Shamokin Dam delivered electricity to the region for more than six decades. It closed in 2014. Next to it, a new natural gas power plant is under construction. The Sunbury Pipeline will feed Marcellus Shale gas into that plant.
A new 20-inch pipeline designed to deliver Marcellus Shale gas to a power plant in central Pennsylvania is nearing completion.
UGI Energy Services’s $150 million Sunbury pipeline is expected to be in service early next month. The line begins in Lycoming County and runs 35 miles southward. It’s designed to feed the new Hummel Station power plant, which is under construction at the site of the former Sunbury coal plant in Shamokin Dam, Synder County. The power plant is expected to come online in early 2018.
“The pipeline is in place along its entire route,” says UGI spokesman Ken Robinson. “Thursday of last week, the pipeline underwent a standard procedure known as ‘purge and pack.’ During this process, the pipeline was purged of air, mostly oxygen, and packed with natural gas.”
UGI has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to place the line into service January 1, 2017.
Although most of its gas is ultimately intended for the power plant, the Sunbury line will also supply UGI’s Central Penn system, which distributes gas to homes and businesses in the region.
Hummel Station is one of three new natural gas power plants being built in Pennsylvania by the Dallas, Texas-based private equity firm, Panda Power Funds. These projects are part of a broader, national trend away from coal, as natural gas takes up an increasing share of electric power generation.
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Moundsville Power, a project of Quantum Utility Generation
Technical Presentation: “Planned Natural Gas Electric Generation,” Suriyun Sukduang, Vice President, Engineering & Project Development, Quantum Utility Generation, WV Governor’s Energy Summit, Stonewall Jackson Resort, October 7, 2016.
Moundsville Power is to be a 595 MW combined-cycle gas or natural gas liquids -fired electric generating facility located in Marshall, WV, on the Ohio River. The facility will consist of two combustion turbine generators (CTGs), connected to two heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs). The HRSGs harness exhaust heat from the CTGs to generate high-quality, superheated steam.
The steam is generated into electricity in an environmentally friendly and efficient manner through a single steam turbine. Upon completion, this facility will provide base load and intermediate power needs to the PJM market. The facility is anticipated to become operational in late 2018.
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Moundsville Power Plant Project Delayed
From an Article by Alan Olson, Wheeling Intelligencer, October 5, 2016
An official representing the developers of the Moundsville Power natural gas electricity project spoke before the Marshall County Commission Tuesday morning, saying the plant is set to begin construction, aside from pending legal action.
Spokesman Curtis Wilkerson told commissioners construction on the natural gas plant, which was expected to begin this month, is currently on hold pending litigation from the Ohio Valley Jobs Alliance. This coal industry-backed group filed appeals against Moundsville Power’s air quality permit, granted by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. Filed last year, the alliance’s complaint claims the plant will produce emissions in excess of regulations.
Wilkerson was unable to say when work will resume, even in a best-case scenario for Moundsville Power, but estimated that it would likely be months.
“We have to go through things with the legal system at this point, and find out how long that will take,” Wilkerson said. “Everything else is in line. We were ready to break ground and have shovels and hardhats in October. … We think it will be pushed back a few months from today.”
Wilkerson said that aside from the appeals, preparations at Moundsville Power were progressing well. He believes the finished project will create an economic boon for the region. The plant is expected to create 400 jobs during construction and employ 30 people full-time. However, alliance officials maintain natural gas-fired plants such as Moundsville Power pose a threat to coal jobs in the area.
Wilkerson said the alliance is the sole remaining obstacle to constriction before the scheduled opening on June 1, 2018.
“Their obstruction is the only thing that is keeping this from happening,” he said. “We believe the OVJA is doing everything in their power to delay the project.”
Commissioners thanked Wilkerson for updating the county on the situation without further comment, before adjourning after an executive session pertaining to the County Assessor’s office behind closed doors.
On Ohio River in Marshall County, WV
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