Illinois in Lead as U.S. Sees $70 Billion of Power Industry Projects Under Construction

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Industrial Info is tracking more than $70 billion in major Power Industry capital projects that are under way in the U.S. The projects, which number more than 200, range in total investment value (TIV) from several $1 million hydropower generator breaker upgrades to a $5 billion grassroot coal-fired project. Illinois, home to this $5 billion project and a total of $7 billion in Power Industry projects currently under construction, leads the U.S. in terms of value, followed by California ($6.6 billion) and North Carolina ($5.35 billion).

Click on image at right for a breakdown by market region of under-construction Power Industry capital projects in the U.S.

Peabody Energy Corporation's (NYSE:BTU) (St. Louis, Missouri) $5 billion Prairie State Energy Campus in Marissa, Illinois, is in the final commissioning and construction stages. The grassroot plant contains two 800-megawatt (MW) turbine-generators that will be powered by two Babcock & Wilcox supercritical boilers. The mine sits near a 6.5 million-ton-per-year coal mine that will be able to supply the plant for 30 years. The mine is currently in production, and the power plant is expected to begin commercial operations later this year.

Another multibillion-dollar coal-fired project is helping put North Carolina among the top-three states for under-construction power projects. Duke Energy Corporation's (NYSE:DUK) (Charlotte, North Carolina) $2.4 billion Unit 6 addition at the Cliffside Power Station in Cliffside, North Carolina, kicked off in early 2008 and is currently winding up. The 800-MW unit will begin commissioning and startup procedures this summer.

These two projects represent a dwindling pool of grassroot and expansion projects at coal-fired plants, as EPA legislation has caused utilities and investors to cancel or place on indefinite hold construction of new coal-fired units. At this point in time, it appears as though after the completion of the current pool of new unit additions, future coal-fired power projects will consist of maintenance shutdowns, scrubber installations and plant closures.

It should perhaps come as no surprise that in California more than $2.4 billion of wind, hydro, solar, biomass and landfill gas-to-energy projects are under way. Add to this figure the $1.9 billion Sunrise Powerlink transmission line, which primarily is being built to transmit power from the large solar and wind installations in rural Southern California, and more than $4.3 billion of California's $6.6 billion in Power Industry projects are for renewable energy construction. For related information, see today's article - Tenaska Enters Renewable Power Industry with California Projects. Most of the balance of California's power projects are natural gas-fired construction.

Besides the Sunrise Powerlink transmission project, one of the largest Power Industry projects under construction in California is Iberdrola Renewables Incorporated's (Portland, Oregon) $900 million Manzana Windfarm near Bakersfield. D H Blattner & Sons Incorporated (Avon, Minnesota) is acting as EPC contractor on the grassroot windfarm, which is expected to be wrapped up by the end of the year.

Information on these and other projects is available in Industrial Info's North American Power Industry Database.

Make sure to listen to our current "Navigating the Currents of Change" webcast, in which Brock Ramey, Industrial Info's manager for North America Power Industry research, discusses how the tremendous changes in the Power Industry over the past 12 months are shaping the current future industry trends.

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Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.