Engineering company CB&I has started construction of a 994MW gas-fired combined-cycle power plant in the US state of Louisiana for Entergy Louisiana, a subsidiary of integrated energy company Entergy.

The power plant named as Lake Charles Power Station will be built in Lake Charles with an investment of $872m.

Under the contract, CB&I will be responsible for the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of the plant. 

Expected to enter into commercial operations by June 2020, the Lake Charles power plant will generate enough electricity to cover around 675,000 homes.

CB&I president and CEO Patrick K. Mullen said: “The groundbreaking for this Lake Charles Power Station is a significant milestone as it marks the second of three identically designed power projects included in the strategic partnership framework between Entergy and CB&I.”

Lake Charles Power Station will feature two advanced class gas turbines (ACGT) from Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS).

According to MHPS, the two turbines to be installed at the power plant are air-cooled versions of the company’s MHPS G-Series.

Entergy said that the gas-fired plant is estimated to reduce customer energy costs by $1.3-$2bn through its expected lifetime of 30 years.

Entergy chairman and CEO Leo Denault said: “The Lake Charles Power Station will provide much-needed generating capacity for the region, and it represents another step toward increasing our environmental efficiency and modernizing Entergy Louisiana’s fleet.

“The plant, much like the St. Charles Power Station currently under construction, is expected to produce significant customer savings over the long term. It will also add another highly efficient resource to our generation fleet, which already ranks as one of the cleanest in the country.”

Compared to the older gas-fired plants of Entergy, the combined-cycle units of the new plant are expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 40%.

At the peak of construction activity, the power plant will have about 700 people working directly on site. After its completion, Entergy Louisiana is likely to have 31 full-time roles to oversee its operations.

Image: Groundbreaking ceremony of the Lake Charles Power Station. Photo: courtesy of CB&I.