West Virginia Combined Cycle Plant Will Be First to Burn Ethane and Natural Gas

Power ^ | 02/17/2015 | Gail Reitenbach

[thackney]

On Monday, the West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) approved the siting certificate for Moundsville Power LLC to construct a 549-MW combined cycle natural gas power plant in Marshall County. It will be the first to also burn ethane. The company is also touting the project’s role in helping to offset the effect of area coal plant closings.

With the PSC approval in hand, Moundsville Power’s next step is financing. Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2015, and the plant is expected to be operational in early 2018. The Moundsville Power facility will be a wholesale generator for the PJM grid.

The plant will utilize $105 million of natural gas and ethane annually sourced from West Virginia producers and processors. Located in the center of the Marcellus and Utica shale formations, it will have direct access to local gas from numerous providers. The 37-acre Superfund site south of Moundsville, which previously held the Allied Chemical Plant, is within 7 miles of three interstate pipelines. Once operational, it is expected to be the largest user of natural gas in the state.

Black & Veatch will design and build the plant. General Electric will provide the natural gas and steam turbines as well as other power island equipment. The plant will use GE 7F.04 gas turbines in a 2 x 1 configuration. GE will also provide a long-term maintenance agreement.

According to an economic impact study performed by Tom S. Witt, PhD of Witt Economics LLC in Morgantown, W.V., the project will average more than 400 construction jobs during the estimated 30-month construction period. Witt projected the annual economic impact during construction would be in excess of $815 million. The plant will have an annual operating impact of more than $283 million and will employ 30 workers when operational.

The Witt report says the plant “will use natural gas and otherwise underutilized ethane provided from West Virginia natural gas suppliers.” The ethane will be blended with natural gas and, when it is not available, the plant will burn more gas.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, ethane, a natural gas liquid, is most commonly used in manufacturing plastics (including plastic bags) as well as a petrochemical feedstock.

[nascarnation]

Frack it baby!

[thackney]

Growing U.S. HGL production spurs petrochemical industry investment
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=19771
JANUARY 29, 2015

Between 2014 and 2018, U.S. petrochemical capacity expansion projects are projected to increase domestic demand for ethane by nearly 600,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) and propane by nearly 200,000 bbl/d. This growing demand is in response to growing domestic hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL) supply and favorable petrochemical feedstock prices in the United States relative to the international market.

The petrochemical industry uses hydrocarbon feedstocks such as ethane and propane to create plastics, fibers, resins, and a wide range of other consumer and industrial materials. Ethylene-cracking plants most commonly process either ethane or naphtha to produce ethylene, an important compound used in the manufacture of plastics and other industrial materials. Although naphtha, a hydrocarbon that contains mostly molecules with 5–12 carbon atoms, is one of the lighter components produced by refining crude oil, it is a much heavier feedstock than ethane or propane, which respectively consist of hydrocarbon molecules with 2 or 3 carbon atoms. All ethylene projects currently planned for the United States are designed to consume light feed, predominantly ethane, for the production of ethylene.

[cicero2k]

The plant will utilize $105 million of natural gas and ethane annually sourced from West Virginia producers and processors.

So about $0.026 per kilowatt hour fuel cost.

You can make money with that.