The Daily News
October 12, 2006
The $100 million, 250-megawatt power plant BP broke ground on Wednesday was more than just a new addition to the 1,200-acre Texas City refinery. It will also be the first facility under construction in the United States as part of the company’s alternative energy arm.
Gavin McCallum, director of business development for BP's Alternative Energy Division, said while the company has struck deals to enter the wind power business and contracts for solar energy production, there hasn’t been an alternative energy facility built in this country.
Until now.
The power plant, which is expected to be online by April 2008, will use steam from the Texas City refinery’s system to generate electricity. While much of the electric power generated, along with its existing cogeneration plant, will be used to power the refinery, BP is hoping to sell excess electricity on the open market.
How much the company hopes to sell is not yet known, McCallum said. He said it will depend on how much fuel oil can be produced from the BP refinery plus market conditions.
Launched last November, BP's Alternative Energy division is focused on developing what it terms as low-carbon power generation including wind, solar, hydrogen and gas-fired power plants. Thus far, the company, which relies heavily on the clean energy image in its marketing campaigns, has announced plans to invest $8 billion in the next 10 years to fund alternative energy projects.
0 comments:
Post a Comment