Power Industry Leads Nebraska's Projects Under Construction

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Industrial Info is tracking more than $4.7 billion worth of projects under construction in Nebraska. The Power Industry leads the pack in terms of project value, with more than $2.3 billion worth. While many think of the Midwest as home to scores of windfarms, the state's Power Industry is led by a nuclear decommissioning project and natural gas-fired generation.

Click on the image at right for a breakdown by industry of projects under construction in Nebraska.

Although the Biden administration is attempting to keep nuclear generation as a substantial portion of the U.S.' energy mix, several smaller plants that can't compete economically with other fuel types are on their way to closure. The single-unit, 482-megawatt (MW) Forth Calhoun nuclear power plant in Blair, Nebraska, began operating in 1973 and was shut down in 2016 after 43 years of service. The plant's owner, Omaha Public Power District (Omaha, Nebraska) (OPPD) cited market conditions and historically low natural gas prices as reasons prompting the closure. In 2019, OPPD contracted with EnergySolutions Incorporated (Salt Lake City, Utah) to take the lead in the decommissioning process. EnergySolutions is using a deferred dismantlement strategy, allowing residual radioactivity to decay over a period of decades, after which the plant will be dismantled. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can click here for more details.

OPPD is underway with construction on two plants that can be fired from natural gas and fuel oil. Construction on the 450-MW Turtle Creek Power Station near Springfield kicked off earlier this year and will include two 225-MW simple-cycle combustion turbines. The facility is expected to begin operation next year. Also kicking off this year was a dual-fuel peaking station near Omaha, which will use nine 16-MW reciprocating internal combustion engines to provide up to 144 MW in times of high demand, which OPPD estimates will be less than 15% of the time. Construction is set to be completed next year. OPPD states the turbines are capable of running a blend of up to 15% hydrogen in support of future technology investments. Subscribers can click here for the report on the Turtle Creek station and here for the Omaha peaking plant.

After the Power Industry, the Industrial Manufacturing Industry ranks second in terms of project value, thanks largely to two large expansion projects in Papillion, on the southern outskirts of Omaha, from two of tech's biggest players: Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Incorporated (NASDAQ:META) (Menlo Park, California) and Google parent Alphabet Incorporated (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (Mountain View, California).

Meta's data center became operational in 2020, and the company now is expanding the facility by constructing two new buildings totaling 1 million square feet. General contractor Turner Construction Company (New York, New York) is expected to wrap up the project in the coming months. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Industrial Manufacturing Project Database can click here for the report. Earlier this year, Alphabet began construction of a third building on its campus, which will be approximately 450,000 square feet. The project is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Subscribers can click here for more details.

Heavy manufacturing also has been given a boost in the state by Kawasaki Heavy Industries Limited's (Tokyo, Japan) expansion of a manufacturing plant in Lincoln. The facility manufactures a variety of goods, including all-terrain vehicles, personal watercraft and rail vehicles. The expansion project entails construction of new assembly, paint and welding lines along with supporting equipment to boost production. Despite heavy automation of the new lines, Kawasaki says about 550 new full-time jobs will be added to the plant. The expansion is expected to be completed later this year. Subscribers can click here for the full report.

Rounding out Nebraska's top three industries by project value is the Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry. Among the state's largest projects in this sector is Merck & Co. Incorporated's (NYSE:MRK) (Kenilworth, New Jersey) building addition at its injectable animal vaccines manufacturing facility in Elkhorn, about 25 miles northwest of Omaha. According to Merck, the facility manufactures a broad portfolio of canine, feline, bovine poultry and swine vaccines. The new, three-story Building 5 will be 158,000 square feet and will include 78,000 square feet of space to increase vaccine production. Construction kicked off last year and is expected to be completed next summer. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Pharma-Biotech Project Database can click here for more details.

Click here for a look at all of the projects discussed in this article, and here for the plant profiles.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).