Combination of Conventional and Clean Energy Adds to Diverse Portfolio to Meet Energy Demand
Black & Veatch to design, engineer and manage construction of combined-cycle facility that will allow PowerSouth to take advantage of affordable natural gas market
Black & Veatch, a global leader in the design and construction of natural gas power generation projects, announced today it has been selected by PowerSouth Energy Cooperative to engineer and manage construction of a combined cycle gas turbine facility that will deliver clean and efficient energy to customers across Alabama and northwest Florida.
PowerSouth is a generation and transmission electric cooperative serving 16 electric co-ops and four municipal electric systems in the two states. The new facility, to be located near Leroy, Alabama, is expected to begin construction in mid-2020, featuring the latest, high-efficiency combustion gas turbine technology. The plant will also include robust water-cooling and air-quality strategies to efficiently meet rising demand for cleaner energy among PowerSouth customers.
“Our expertise in power plant conceptual and detail design, and construction management gives PowerSouth a focal point to streamline the project for on-time and on-budget delivery,” said Mario Azar, President of Black & Veatch’s power business. “Combined cycle technology offers clear advantages in terms of efficiency and scale, and the cost of natural gas means PowerSouth can take advantage of an affordable and plentiful energy source well into the future.”
Capacity generated by the new facility will replace the output of three PowerSouth coal-fired units now scheduled to cease operation in 2020. The addition of the natural gas unit also compliments PowerSouth’s existing diverse generating mix that includes natural gas, hydroelectricity, compressed air energy storage and purchased power agreements.
“As technology evolves and natural gas continues to be an efficient source of energy we’re prepared to meet the changing demand for power,” said Gary Smith, PowerSouth CEO. “Our Lowman plant has served as a strong source of baseload generation for decades and has been an important part of our reliable and cost-effective portfolio. With Black & Veatch’s expertise in advanced combined cycle units, we’re confident that as we meet the changing needs of our members, we’ll continue to deliver safe, reliable and efficient power to the region.”
Black & Veatch was recently honored with a Project of the Year award by the Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylvania for the company’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work on Tenaska's Westmoreland natural gas power generation station. Advanced gas turbine, water-cooling and air-quality technologies are helping Tenaska meet rising power demand in the Northeast while satisfying state and federal emissions standards.
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About Black & Veatch
Black & Veatch is an employee-owned, global leader in building critical human infrastructure in Energy, Water, Telecommunications and Government Services. Since 1915, we have helped our clients improve the lives of people in over 100 countries through consulting, engineering, construction, operations and program management. Our revenues in 2018 were US$3.5 billion. Follow us on social media.