Entergy completes 560MW combined cycle plant in Louisiana

Entergy Louisiana, LLC announced recently that it has completed the 560MW Ninemile 6 electric generating facility in Westwego, Louisiana. The gas-fired, combined-cycle facility is owned by Entergy Louisiana, LLC and is located across the river from New Orleans in Jefferson Parish. However, Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, LLC and Entergy New Orleans, Inc. will purchase 25 and 20 percent of the plant output, respectively. Entergy estimates the final cost of the new facility to be approximately $655 million, which is substantially below its original budget of $721 million. The project was authorized by the Louisiana Public Service Commission nearly three years ago.

The project site was the home of Ninemile units 1 and 2, which came online in the early 1950s and have been deactivated. Ninemile 6 used portions of the site's existing infrastructure to reduce construction costs. The president and CEO of Entergy Louisiana, LLC and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, LLC said adding Ninemile 6 to the company’s portfolio gives them an opportunity to meet their new needs “while satisfying customers' expectations of safe, reliable and affordable energy.” Entergy Louisiana, LLC and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, LLC are subsidiaries of Entergy Corporation.

The completion of the project is another step in Entergy's move to increase its natural gas-fired generation portfolio in the South. Earlier this month, Entergy Corporation announced that its subsidiaries, Entergy Arkansas, Inc., Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, LLC and Entergy Texas, Inc. had signed an agreement to acquire the 1,980-MW Union Power Station from Union Power Partners, L.P., an independent power producer (IPP) that is wholly-owned by Entegra TC LLC. The purchase price of the facility was $948 million, and the target closing date is late 2015.

The Union Power Station is located near El Dorado, Arkansas and began commercial operations in July 2003. The natural gas-fired electric generating facility includes four, 495MW combined cycle blocks. The new acquisition agreement calls for both Entergy Arkansas and Entergy Texas to acquire one unit, and for Entergy Gulf States Louisiana to acquire two units. Furthermore, Entergy New Orleans will receive 20 percent of the output from the Entergy Gulf States Louisiana units via an at-cost purchase power agreement (PPA), which is subject to City Council of New Orleans approval.