ANTIOCH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG), entered commercial operation at its Marsh Landing Generating Station, a natural gas–fueled, peaking facility located near Antioch, CA, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The plant provides 720 megawatts (MW) of flexible electrical generation to the California grid that can supply up to 650,000 homes. The fast-start technology employed by Marsh Landing supports the integration of new renewable energy sources that are expected to come online in the next decade.
“Our Marsh Landing team worked closely with a very effective construction team from Kiewit to safely build this facility on-budget and on-time,” said John Chillemi, Senior Vice President and Regional President, West. “Our goal was to bring this facility online before the California summer peak arrived, and we were able to make it happen.”
During the peak period of construction, this project created nearly 600 jobs in the local community. Bringing the new facility online also allows NRG to immediately retire two less-efficient, 1960s-era units at its adjacent Contra Costa Generating Station (CCGS) that relied on once-through cooling. Replacing the older units nets a nearly 50 MW gain in power with a fraction of the environmental impacts. Marsh Landing’s fast-start technology will bring it to full capacity in minutes where CCGS took hours, providing more power faster—and with lower emissions.
During construction, the station followed the highly respected Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building standards, which serve as the U.S. Green Building Council’s national model for environmentally friendly construction.
The Marsh Landing station will employ technologies to meet or exceed the state of California’s strict standards for emissions control and air quality. The turbines will operate with ultra-low nitrogen oxides (NOx) combustors, a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system will be installed to further reduce the NOx emissions, and an oxidation catalyst system will be utilized to reduce carbon monoxide and other organic compound emissions. Marsh Landing's state-of-the-art air-cooling system uses a minuscule amount of water compared to facilities relying on water-cooled systems, advancing California's policy of reducing the use of water associated with the generation of electricity. In fact, Marsh Landing’s maximum use of 50 acre-feet of water per year represents a 99.99 percent decrease from CCGS’ maximum annual use.
The facility is located on a 27-acre parcel of industrial-zoned land approximately 50 miles east of San Francisco. Through a 10-year power purchase agreement, Pacific Gas and Electric Company will obtain the entire output of the facility.
About NRG
NRG is at the forefront of changing how people think about and use energy. We deliver cleaner and smarter energy choices for our customers, backed by the nation’s largest independent power generation portfolio of fossil fuel, nuclear, solar and wind facilities. A Fortune 300 company, NRG is challenging the U.S. energy industry by becoming the largest developer of solar power, building the first privately-funded electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and providing customers with the most advanced smart energy solutions to better manage their energy use. In addition to 47,000 megawatts of generation capacity, enough to supply nearly 40 million homes, our retail electricity providers – Reliant, Green Mountain Energy and Energy Plus – serve more than two million customers. More information is available at www.nrgenergy.com. Connect with NRG Energy on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @nrgenergy.
NRG Safe Harbor Disclosure
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions and include NRG’s expectations regarding the Company’s Marsh Landing facility and forward-looking statements typically can be identified by the use of words such as “will,” “expect,” “believe,” and similar terms. Although NRG believes that its expectations are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to have been correct, and actual results may vary materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated above include, among others, general economic conditions, hazards customary in the power industry, competition in wholesale power markets, the volatility of energy and fuel prices, failure of customers to perform under contracts, changes in the wholesale power markets, changes in government regulation of markets and of environmental emissions, and our ability to achieve the expected benefits and timing of our power generation projects. NRG undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The foregoing review of factors that could cause NRG’s actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in the forward-looking statements included in this news release should be considered in connection with information regarding risks and uncertainties that may affect NRG’s future results included in NRG’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.
