The St Joseph Energy Center is a natural gas-fired combined-cycle power plant (CCPP) within the St Joseph County Economic District 2 in New Carlisle, Indiana, US.
The plant was earlier owned by Ares Management’s subsidiary Ares EIF Group (50.9%), KPIC USA (20%) and Toyota Tsusho (29.1%).
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In March 2025, two Indiana-based not-for-profit generation and transmission cooperatives, Wabash Valley Power Alliance (WVPA) and Hoosier Energy, acquired an equal share in the power plant. They also jointly share responsibility for its operation and maintenance.
The 720MW CCPP power project began operations in 2018. It created approximately 700 jobs during its construction and 21 permanent jobs upon completion.
The plant produces enough power to serve approximately 450,000 households.
A proposed second phase, with a planned capacity of 710MW, has been deferred and is currently on hold.
St Joseph Energy Center construction details and plant make-up
The St Joseph Energy Center site covers an area of approximately 165 acres.
The construction of a diesel fire pump foundation, as well as the surveying and geotechnical studies, were completed in late 2015, and the earthworks were initiated in early 2016.
Siemens equipped the power plant with two SGT6-5000F gas turbines, one SST6-5000 steam turbine and three SGen-1000A air-cooled generators. The plant also features two Nooter-Eriksen heat-recovery steam generators.
The waste heat from the gas turbines is used to power the steam turbine and generate additional electricity without using more fuel.
The heated water, which is the by-product from the process, is cooled in the cooling towers and cycled back into the power plant.
Details of St Joseph Energy Center’s connection with the national grid
The entire output from the power plant is supplied to PJM, a regional transmission organisation (RTO) that serves all or parts of the 13 states in the north-eastern US, including Southern Michigan and Indiana.
To facilitate the connection with the grid, the project involved the construction of a new substation interconnecting with American Electric Power’s (AEP) Dumont-Olive 345kV line.
The substation is equipped with three 345kV circuit breakers, a 345kV revenue metering system, a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system, and associated equipment.
The ownership of the inline facilities was transferred to AEP upon completion of the construction works.
Financing for the Indiana CCPP project
The overall investment exceeded $700m, which was financed through both equity and debt.
Ares EIF Group contributed 80% and Toyota Tsusho contributed 20% of the equity capital.
BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole arranged non-recourse debt financing for the project while Siemens Financial Services also agreed to support the project with a $50m commitment.
Phase two details of the CCPP project
Phase two of the CCPP power plant was planned to involve the installation of an equal number of gas turbines as phase one, along with a steam turbine and air-cooled generators.
It is proposed to interconnect with the Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator’s (MISO) regional transmission system at Northern Indiana Public Service Company’s (NIPSCO) Stillwell substation.
Contractors involved
The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the project was awarded to Kiewit Power Constructors in August 2015.
Siemens, the equipment supplier and one of the financiers for the project, is also involved in providing maintenance services for a period of 25 years. It manufactured the generators and gas turbines for the CCPP project at its Charlotte Energy Hub.
Nooter-Eriksen supplied heat-recovery steam generators for the project.
Helix Steel, a concrete reinforcement solutions provider, was also involved in the project.