Located in Hempstead County, Arkansas, the ultra-supercritical generating unit will generate electricity more efficiently at higher temperatures.
The American Electric Power (AEP) unit said its new power plant requires less coal and produces fewer emissions to generate the same amount of power as existing coal units.
SWEPCO owns 73% of the $1.8bn Turk power plant, which will burn low-sulfur coal from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, US.
The coal-fired power generating plant is located on about 3,000 acres between Fulton and McNab, and it will have 109 permanent positions.
AEP president and CEO Nicholas K. Akins stated, "At Turk, we’ve deployed ultra-supercritical generating technology, and built one of the nation’s cleanest, most efficient pulverized coal generating plants."
SWEPCO president and COO Venita McCellon-Allen commented, "This is a milestone addition of very efficient generation during SWEPCO’s 100th anniversary to help meet the growing energy needs of all SWEPCO customers, and we heartily thank our many supporters of the project these last six years."
The Turk power plant will serve SWEPCO retail and wholesale customers in the states of Louisiana and Texas, and the ETEC customers. It will serve SWEPCO’s wholesale customers in Arkansas.
