Two natural gas plants in Pennsylvania to become operational

The Panda Patriot natural gas-fueled generating plant near Montgomery in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, is likely to begin commercial operation, as is a sister facility in Bradford County. The two upstate natural gas-fired power plants are capable of meeting the electricity needs of one million homes.

Panda Power Funds, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, says the Panda Liberty plant on 33-acre site in Asylum Twp., near Towanda in Bradford County, is also close to entering commercial operation. The company is said to have taken control of the site, and one of the generating units is running.

Panda has projected Liberty will infuse $5.9 billion into that area's economy during construction and the first 10 years of operation. Its Patriot plant on an 85-acre site near Montgomery in Lycoming County is also complete and Panda has assumed control of the site. Both generating units there have passed emission tests. Although both are adjacent to branches of the Susquehanna River, the 829MW plants are said to be cooled with air, not water.

Construction on a third Panda project, the conversion of the former Sunbury Generation 400MW coal-fired plant on a 19-acre site in Shamokin Dam to a 1,124 MW natural-gas facility is going on. Equipment for the plant is scheduled to move on site soon.

The Hummel Station project, a natural gas power conversion project, is scheduled for completion in early 2018. It is expected to generate enough power to serve one million homes. The cost of Panda's projects is estimated at $1 million per MW. That would put the project Liberty and Patriot projects at $829 million each and the Hummel Station in the $1.2 billion range.