US energy giant Exelon Generation and partners have broken ground on a new 1GW low-carbon, combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) unit at Colorado Bend generating station in Wharton County, Texas.
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The site has an existing 498MW natural gas power plant to which Exelon and its partners will add an additional 1GW capacity.
Alstom, General Electric (GE) and Zachry have partnered with the US firm to build the environment-friendly CCGT unit.
The project is in line with Exelon’s strategy for growth and is likely to offer low-carbon and reliable electricity in the US state.
Turbines to be installed at the facility will feature GE’s advanced gas turbine technology and an air cooling system which can eliminate the use of water required for cooling the unit.
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By GlobalDataExelon is also developing another 1GW CCGT unit, which is scheduled to be installed at its existing Wolf Hollow generating station at Granbury in Texas.
Both the units are expected to be operational from 2017.
Exelon Generation president and CEO Ken Cornew said: "Exelon is a forward-looking company, and what we see is a clean energy future that includes this kind of new technology, which uses little water and produces few emissions while generating electricity at a very low cost.
"We’re delighted to be the first to employ this GE technology, and we’re delighted to do it in Texas."
Image: Official ground breaking for 1GW CCGT unit at Colorado Bend generating station. Photo: courtesy of Exelon Generation.
