Northeast Region Plans $3.3 Billion of 1Q10 Capital and MRO Project Starts

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Along with the rest of the country, the Northeast region has been battling the turbulent economy. Despite the precarious financial climate, the region has somehow managed to eclipse 2009 in terms of new project starts and total investment value (TIV) for the first quarter of the year. A recent survey taken from Industrial Info's PECWEB Direct forecasts 127projects with a cumulative TIV of $3.3 billion are ready to begin construction this quarter. This dollar amount is more than double that of 1Q09, when 104 projects carrying a TIV of $1.5 billion began construction in the Northeast, which contains Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Click on image at right for a breakdown by region of planned 1Q10 spending in the U.S. Northeast region.

Contributing to the spike in this year's investment forecast for the Northeast are two large power projects representing nearly $1 billion in construction investment. The largest of the two is Hess Corporation's (New York, New York) planned construction of a brownfield 512-megawatt (MW) natural-gas-fired simple-cycle peaking power station in Bayonne, New Jersey. The $550 million project is set to begin construction in March, with WorleyParsons Limited (Reading, Pennsylvania) performing engineering and construction. The other project is PPL Generation LLC's $440 million plan to expand a hydropower station by 125 MW in Holtwood, Pennsylvania. The project team includes Walsh Construction (Canonsburg, Pennsylvania) and engineering firm Kleinschmidt Associates (Strasburg, Pennsylvania).

Thanks to the size of these two projects, Pennsylvania claims bragging rights for being the top state in the Northeast region for the firstt quarter. The remaining 66 projects in the state total more than $500 million.

New Jersey is in second place for the first three months of 2010, with $926 million being invested into 20 projects. The largest of these is for an Alternative Fuels project by East Coast Energy Solutions (East Windsor, New Jersey). An investment of $120 million will build a grassroot ethanol plant in Belvidere, New Jersey. Hoping to break ground by March 2010, the facility will utilize corn as its feedstock to produce 40 million gallons per year. Next up is New York, with $859 million divided into 36 projects. Sunworks Solar (San Francisco, California) plans to begin construction in March on a $200 million solar panel manufacturing plant in Buffalo, New York. Delaware claims the last three projects in the region for the quarter, with $11 million being invested.

From an industry standpoint, the Power sector leads the way with 36 projects projects carrying a TIV of $1.4 billion. Next up is the Industrial Manufacturing group, which is in place with 16 projects and a TIV of $501 million. Oil & Gas production rounds out the top three, with two projects in the region worth $370 million.

To be sure, with financing tight and uncertain market conditions, there is better than fair chance that a number of these projects will be delayed, put on hold, or canceled. The individual status of each of the 127 projects will be carefully monitored for changes. Of these projects, 57 are for scheduled maintenance (MRO) programs, with a combined TIV of $191 million. Traditionally, these projects have a tendency to proceed as planned.

The Northeast currently has nearly 3,700 operational industrial plants. The region represents a wide variety of industrial plants, with the Food & Beverage and Industrial Manufacturing plants responsible for more than 1,475 locations. The Pharmaceutical & Biotech Industry has more than 370 facilities in the region, including manufacturing plants and research centers. Other sites in the region include approximately 390 chemical plants, 30 major petroleum refineries and nearly 500 plants involved in the production of metals and minerals. Key information regarding these facilities is included in Industrial Info Resources' Northeast Region Online Plant Directory.

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Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy related markets. For more than 26 years, Industrial Info has provided plant and project spending opportunity databases, market forecasts, high resolution maps, and daily industry news.