Emera Power Plant Sale to Help Fund $3.6 Billion in Active Projects

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Earlier this week, Emera Incorporated (TSX:EMA) (Halifax, Novia Scotia) announced that it would sell three natural gas-fired power plants in New England to an affiliate of private equity firm The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) (Washington, D.C.) for $590 million. In a press release regarding the transaction, Scott Balfour, Emera's chief executive officer, said the sale "increases Emera's financing flexibility to capitalize on our regulated growth opportunities today and in the future." Industrial Info is tracking more than $3.6 billion in active Emera projects.

Click on the image at right for a breakdown by market region of active Emera projects.

The plants being sold are the Bridgeport Energy plant in Connecticut, the Tiverton Power Plant in Rhode Island and the Rumford Energy Center in Maine. The facilities have a combined generation capacity of about 1,100 megawatts (MW).

The sale will help fund Emera's capital projects, including a planned transmission line in New England and a natural gas conversion in Florida. Among Emera's most ambitious projects is the Northeastern Energy Link high voltage-direct current underground transmission line, which it is working on with National Grid plc (NSYE:NG) (London, England). The 320-kilovolt line will run for 227 miles from Orrington, Maine, to Tewksbury, Massachusetts, and will help transmit significant renewable energy to the New England market while enhancing transmission system reliability. The project could kick off next year for completion in the first half of 2021. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the transmission line and the associated alternate current-direct current convertor expansion in Orrington.

Emera also is underway with natural gas-fired conversion projects in Florida. Among these is the conversion of Unit 1 of the Big Bend Power Station in Apollo Beach, Florida, near Tampa, from coal to combined-cycle natural gas-fired power. In the company's earnings conference call held earlier this month, Balfour said, "Our planned U.S. $850 million investment to modernize Big Bend by converting one of the units to combined-cycle natural gas and retire another unit early complements our investment in solar in the region. A modernized Big Bend will provide customers with cleaner and lower-cost energy while also providing additional fast-acting generation, which is needed to enable additional solar capacity." For more information, see Industrial Info's project report. Emera also has plans to convert units 3 and 4 at the plant to natural gas-fired generation. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Outside of the U.S., Emera is underway with a handful of renewable energy projects. Among these is construction of a grassroot geothermal power plant in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean. Construction on the plant began this summer and is expected to take a little more than three years to complete. Kelectric (Kingstown, Saint George) is the contractor, while a firm from Iceland is providing validation and startup services. The facility will produce 7.5 to 10 MW of renewable energy. The project has an estimated total investment value of $91 million. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Emera reported third-quarter 2018 net income of C$118 million ($88.9 million), compared with C$81 million ($61 million) in the prior-year quarter.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, 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. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at https://www.industrialinfo.com.