Ohio's First Gas-Fired Power Plant Goes On Stream.

This is a big deal! We have been writing about Ohio's Utica Shale since drilling began in 2010 because of the potential benefits to Ohio and the country as a whole. Most of the drilling and pipeline news appeals to a small segment of the population so understandably it doesn't get much media play. With literally and no, I do not mean virtually, ceremony Switzerland-based Advanced Power announced the beginning of operations of its 700MW gas-fired plant built at a cost of $899 million in Carroll County. The international contractor, Bechtel Corporation, was the prime contractor on the job. According to Bechtel, the Carroll County power plant meets National Ambient Air Quality Standards and will produce 50% lesser carbon dioxide and 90% less sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide when compared to a conventional coal-fired power plant.
Served by an American Electric Power Company 345 kV transmission line and the Tennessee Gas Pipeline system, the power plant sells into the PJM Interconnection market. The Carroll County Energy plant, as it’s called, is owned by a consortium of equity investors that include Advanced Power, TIAA-CREF, Chubu Electric Power Co., Ullico and Prudential. The plant produces enough electricity to service about 750,000 home and has a full time workforce of 22 people. Without the need to unload, move and prepare coal for burning and the onerous labor of disposing of the ash, plant operation is not labor intensive.
This the second generation of gas fired power plants which have made natural gas the most efficient fossil fuel around. Natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plants use two turbines to generate electricity in tandem, with the waste heat from a primary gas turbine being used to drive a secondary steam turbine.In other words it's like the slaughter house that uses all of the pig except the squeal.