Great Lakes Region Sees More than $2.5 Billion in Planned Fourth-Quarter Power Project Starts

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Like other regions of the U.S., the Great Lakes market region, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, is making a large shift to renewable energy, especially solar, which is seeing the most near-term planned projects. However, thanks to a large natural gas-fired project, Illinois leads the region in terms of the value of planned fourth-quarter Electric Power project starts. Industrial Info is tracking more than $2.5 billion in planned fourth-quarter 2020 power project starts in the region.

Click image at right for a breakdown by state of planned fourth-quarter 2020 power project starts in the U.S. Great Lakes region.

The planned natural gas-fired project in Illinois is Competitive Power Ventures Incorporated's (Braintree, Massachusetts) 1,146-megawatt (MW) Three Rivers Energy Center in Morris, Illinois. The project was originally planned to kick off this summer, but was pushed back because of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the falling costs and reduced emissions of renewable energy projects are making them increasingly attractive to utilities and states, the area surrounding Morris, about 60 miles southwest of the heart of Chicago, may need of some additional baseload power. Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ:EXC) (Chicago) recently announced that it plans to retire its 1,730-MW Dresden nuclear facility in Morris in November 2021. If construction on the gas-fired facility kicks off as planned, it should be completed in early 2023. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Several solar projects are planned to kick off in the region in the upcoming quarter, the largest of which Hecate Energy LLC's (Nashville, Tennessee) 300-MW Highland solar power project near Mowrystown, Ohio. While the project has been delayed by COVID-19, it is expected to get underway by the end of the year. The facility will use an estimated 1 million solar panels on a single-axis tracking system. Once underway, it is estimated construction will take about a year to complete. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Other solar projects in the region include Invenergy LLC's 150-MW Phase II addition at its Badger Hollow solar farm in Cobb, Wisconsin, and EDF Renewable Energy's 100-MW grassroot Pike County solar farm near Kemper, Kentucky. The Badger Hollow project will use Hanwha Qcells solar modules and is expected to be completed by the end of 2021. EDF Renewables' project is expected to wrap up next summer. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the Badger Hollow and Pike County projects.

Spending at U.S. coal-fired power plants has been limited to maintenance and in-plant capital spending at existing plants. In Joppa, Illinois, at the state's southern tip, Vistra Energy Corporation (NYSE:VST) (Irving, Texas) is planning to kick off a boiler refurbishment project on Unit 1 of the Joppa Generating Station, which includes replacing the bottom ash hopper of the unit. While the project has seen its kickoff date slip, it is rated as "high probability" (81-99% chance of moving forward) by Industrial Info and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Several transmission and distribution projects also are planned to kick off in the upcoming quarter, including EDP Renewables North America LLC's planned 345-kilovolt Crossroads-Reynolds transmission line in northwest Indiana. The project entails constructing 10 miles of new overhead, single-circuit transmission line on single pole structures up to 90 to 130 feet high, from the planned Crossroads substation (also planned to kick off in the quarter) to the existing Reynolds substation. Construction on the substation and transmission line is expected to be completed by the end of next year. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the transmission line and substation.

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