The future is bright for natural gas in New York State.
A brand new 1,000-megawatt (MW) combined-cycle electric generating facility is to be built in Dover, NY. It’s designed to be a low-impact, highly-efficient natural gas-fired facility, aiming to be among the cleanest energy producers in the state.
The facility will use three General Electric natural gas turbines with heat recovery steam generators to keep the lights on for nearly one million homes in the area. The project is a combined effort between Bechtel and Cricket Valley Energy LLC.
The 1,000-megawatt facility in New York will be a collaboration between Bechtel and Cricket Valley Energy. (Image courtesy of Bechtel.)
“We are confident that the expertise and experience Bechtel brings to our project will help achieve our goal to make Cricket Valley Energy a trusted resource in the region’s energy supply, revitalize a dormant industrial site and create jobs and tax revenue for the Town of Dover and the region,” De Meyere said.
Construction is scheduled to start in mid-2016.
Natural gas: a better fossil fuel?
The facility in NY is being designed to use natural gas and for good reason.
Because it is composed mainly of methane, natural gas is considered to be one of the cleanest fossil fuels. For the most part its combustion does produce less pollution than other fossil fuels, coal included. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) lists carbon dioxide emissions for natural gas at nearly half the emissions produced by coal.
Natural gas already supplies nearly 25 percent of the power used in the United States, according to the American Gas Association (AGA). Coal, still the more popular choice, currently claims 40 percent.
While natural gas does require rigorous processing before it reaches consumers, it can be transported much more easily than other fossil fuels. Environmental controls on gas equipment can also be less expensive than those for other fuels because natural gas is cleaner.
The Future of Generating Electricity
The natural gas-fired power plant being built in Dover is not the first of these plants to be built in the United States. Most of the plants scattered around the country sit around the 400 MW to 600 MW range, with one or two reaching up to 1500 MW. At 1000 MW, the Bechtel-Cricket Valley Energy plant will be one of the larger plants.
The interesting part about this plant is its location. Dover is roughly 80 miles from New York City, so it is possible that the new plant could be used to light up a city notorious for its power consumption.
It also happens to be fairly close to the Pennsylvania border. Pennsylvania, as the home of a large number of coal mines, is a hub for the coal industry in the United States. With natural gas favored as a replacement for coal in various industries, including that of electricity production, New York’s new plant may create a bit of competition with its coal-producing neighbors.
For more information, visit Bechtel’s website.