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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--NTE Energy L.L.C. (St. Augustine, Florida) is a small power developer making a big splash. The company recently received project-finance investment backing that enables it to move forward with building three gas-fired grassroot power plants with a total investment value (TIV) of about $1.1 billion. Groundbreaking is scheduled for 2015 for all three plants. Also, it's in the market with a $700 million bond offering to support continued project development.
Those are significant accomplishments for a five-year-old company with less than 50 employees.
In an interview with Industrial Info, Seth Shortlidge, president and chief executive at NTE Energy, said the company plans to begin construction late in the first quarter of 2015 on two 475-megawatt (MW) natural gas combined-cycle (NGCC) projects: Kings Mountain, located in North Carolina, and Middleton, located in southwest Ohio. Shortlidge, who described himself as a "recovering attorney," said the company is in the final stages of selecting an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm for both projects, each of which is valued at between $450 million and $500 million. Both projects are scheduled to be generating electricity by January 2018.
Between 70% and 75% of the output of the Kings Mountain facility will be sold to three municipalities:
"These municipalities have wholesale power contracts with Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) (Charlotte, North Carolina) that are scheduled to expire soon," Shortlidge said. "We anticipate announcing further offtake agreements for Kings Mountain soon." The Kings Mountain Energy Center will utilize an M501GAC advanced combustion turbine from Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas, Incorporated (Lake Mary, Florida) and a Mitsubishi steam turbine in combined cycle configuration.
On reaching an offtake agreement with the City of Concord, which is the largest of the three announced power buyers, Shortlidge said the agreement "represents the culmination of almost two years of work by the City and NTE to develop a groundbreaking public private partnership surrounding the development of the Kings Mountain Energy Center." He added the generator will be one of the cleanest, most economical and reliable sources of electric generation in the Carolinas.
Energy from the planned Middletown Energy Center, to be built in Butler County in southwest Ohio, will be sold under bilateral contracts, while the plant's capacity will be sold into the PJM (Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland) Interchange, the chief executive officer said, adding the company is currently negotiating offtake agreements for the plant's energy. That project will utilize a Mitsubishi M501JAC advanced combustion turbine in combined cycle configuration.
Developers have announced plans to build numerous gas-fired power plants in the Midwest and PJM regions, as those areas have been particularly hard-hit by tougher regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Washington, D.C.). Utilities have announced plans to close dozens of coal-fired power plants in those areas in response to EPA regulations like the Mercury & Air Toxics Standards (MATS). The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided to hear arguments about that regulation in the terms that ends next June.
The "NTE" in NTE Energy's name is a combination of the first initials of Shortlidge's children's first names (Noah, Tommy and Elsa). When asked what makes NTE Energy different, aside from its name, Shortlidge said, "the strength of our team is extraordinary, one of the most talented teams around, with deep experience in domestic and international power plant development. We develop projects in-house, and we identify niche plays in the market that make sense."
Financiers seem to like it. NTE Energy is what financiers and analysts refer to as a "resume" company, a small and scrappy firm led by people with deep and broad experience in their fields. Shortlidge and NTE Energy chief operating officer, Mark Mirabito, were executives at Tamarack Energy, a renewable power developer that sold its assets to other companies in 2008. Other members of the leadership team held positions at Calpine Corporation (NYSE:CPN) (Houston, Texas), Westinghouse Electric Company (Monroeville, Pennsylvania), Dynegy Incorporated (NYSE:DYN) (Houston, Texas), Parsons Corporation (Pasadena, California), Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany), Duke and Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC) (Chicago, Illinois).
Once NTE Energy stuck a deal with financiers this past July, John Breckenridge, managing director of Capital Dynamics, said in a statement: "We are very pleased to work with NTE Energy ... on the development of these natural gas-fired power generation facilities and look forward to a successful long term partnership as we continue to actively diversify our portfolio of clean energy projects."
This summer, NTE Energy received project financing commitments from Capital Dynamics (Zug, Switzerland), a private-equity fund specializing in infrastructure projects, and Wattage Finance, LLC (New York, New York), an asset management firm. The deal was put together by investment banker Whitehall Capital Markets, LLC (New York, New York).
NTE Energy's third project is a 275-MW gas-fired peaking and backup generator in Nolan County, Texas. Shortlidge said the firm is currently negotiating offtake agreements for the Pecan Creek Energy Center. He expects to break ground on that project next autumn; the plant is scheduled to be operating by early 2018.
The Pecan Creek Energy Center will utilize Mitsubishi's M501GAC-FAST combustion turbine in simple cycle configuration. This highly efficient design and advanced technology provides up to 270 MW in 10 minutes--ideal for use as a peaking unit or to back up intermittent generation like wind power.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and 10 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.
Those are significant accomplishments for a five-year-old company with less than 50 employees.
In an interview with Industrial Info, Seth Shortlidge, president and chief executive at NTE Energy, said the company plans to begin construction late in the first quarter of 2015 on two 475-megawatt (MW) natural gas combined-cycle (NGCC) projects: Kings Mountain, located in North Carolina, and Middleton, located in southwest Ohio. Shortlidge, who described himself as a "recovering attorney," said the company is in the final stages of selecting an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm for both projects, each of which is valued at between $450 million and $500 million. Both projects are scheduled to be generating electricity by January 2018.
Between 70% and 75% of the output of the Kings Mountain facility will be sold to three municipalities:
- The City of Concord, North Carolina
- The City of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, and
- The City of Greenwood, South Carolina
"These municipalities have wholesale power contracts with Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) (Charlotte, North Carolina) that are scheduled to expire soon," Shortlidge said. "We anticipate announcing further offtake agreements for Kings Mountain soon." The Kings Mountain Energy Center will utilize an M501GAC advanced combustion turbine from Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas, Incorporated (Lake Mary, Florida) and a Mitsubishi steam turbine in combined cycle configuration.
On reaching an offtake agreement with the City of Concord, which is the largest of the three announced power buyers, Shortlidge said the agreement "represents the culmination of almost two years of work by the City and NTE to develop a groundbreaking public private partnership surrounding the development of the Kings Mountain Energy Center." He added the generator will be one of the cleanest, most economical and reliable sources of electric generation in the Carolinas.
Energy from the planned Middletown Energy Center, to be built in Butler County in southwest Ohio, will be sold under bilateral contracts, while the plant's capacity will be sold into the PJM (Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland) Interchange, the chief executive officer said, adding the company is currently negotiating offtake agreements for the plant's energy. That project will utilize a Mitsubishi M501JAC advanced combustion turbine in combined cycle configuration.
Developers have announced plans to build numerous gas-fired power plants in the Midwest and PJM regions, as those areas have been particularly hard-hit by tougher regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Washington, D.C.). Utilities have announced plans to close dozens of coal-fired power plants in those areas in response to EPA regulations like the Mercury & Air Toxics Standards (MATS). The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided to hear arguments about that regulation in the terms that ends next June.
The "NTE" in NTE Energy's name is a combination of the first initials of Shortlidge's children's first names (Noah, Tommy and Elsa). When asked what makes NTE Energy different, aside from its name, Shortlidge said, "the strength of our team is extraordinary, one of the most talented teams around, with deep experience in domestic and international power plant development. We develop projects in-house, and we identify niche plays in the market that make sense."
Financiers seem to like it. NTE Energy is what financiers and analysts refer to as a "resume" company, a small and scrappy firm led by people with deep and broad experience in their fields. Shortlidge and NTE Energy chief operating officer, Mark Mirabito, were executives at Tamarack Energy, a renewable power developer that sold its assets to other companies in 2008. Other members of the leadership team held positions at Calpine Corporation (NYSE:CPN) (Houston, Texas), Westinghouse Electric Company (Monroeville, Pennsylvania), Dynegy Incorporated (NYSE:DYN) (Houston, Texas), Parsons Corporation (Pasadena, California), Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany), Duke and Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC) (Chicago, Illinois).
Once NTE Energy stuck a deal with financiers this past July, John Breckenridge, managing director of Capital Dynamics, said in a statement: "We are very pleased to work with NTE Energy ... on the development of these natural gas-fired power generation facilities and look forward to a successful long term partnership as we continue to actively diversify our portfolio of clean energy projects."
This summer, NTE Energy received project financing commitments from Capital Dynamics (Zug, Switzerland), a private-equity fund specializing in infrastructure projects, and Wattage Finance, LLC (New York, New York), an asset management firm. The deal was put together by investment banker Whitehall Capital Markets, LLC (New York, New York).
NTE Energy's third project is a 275-MW gas-fired peaking and backup generator in Nolan County, Texas. Shortlidge said the firm is currently negotiating offtake agreements for the Pecan Creek Energy Center. He expects to break ground on that project next autumn; the plant is scheduled to be operating by early 2018.
The Pecan Creek Energy Center will utilize Mitsubishi's M501GAC-FAST combustion turbine in simple cycle configuration. This highly efficient design and advanced technology provides up to 270 MW in 10 minutes--ideal for use as a peaking unit or to back up intermittent generation like wind power.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and 10 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.
