Natural gas plant starts in Ector County

A natural gas plant about 20 miles northwest of Odessa began operating on Friday, according to an announcement from the plant’s operator, Invenergy Clean Power LLC.

The plant, called the Ector County Energy Center, uses two GE 7FA simple-cycle combustion turbines fueled by Permian Basin natural gas, designed provide peaking energy and respond quickly when the state grid operator requests additional power supply.

The facility connects to Oncor Electric’s Holt Switching Station. It is about seven miles northeast of Goldsmith.

In March, the Ector County Commissioners Court authorized a tax abatement for the $120 million, 386-megawatt plant. The deal allowed a full tax abatement for the first seven years Invenergy is in Ector County. In the eighth year, the abatement decreases to 75 percent, then to 50 percent in the ninth year and 25 percent in the tenth year.

Representatives of Invenergy in March asked county officials for a 10-year, 100 percent tax abatement, which is the most the county could give.

A Friday release from Invenergy touted 300 construction workers involved in building the plant since November and an estimated $2 million contributed to the local economy through salaries for seven full-time staffers and through buying local goods.

The release also claimed “tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue over the 30-year life of the project.”

https://www.oaoa.com/inthepipeline/article_36caf514-58d3-11e5-8099-b33308e127eb.html