NRG Energy to acquire Corpus Christi, Texas cogeneration plant

USA: NRG Energy Inc. has entered into an agreement with a consortium of affiliates of Atlantic Power Corporation, John Hancock Life Insurance Co. (USA), and Rockland Capital, LLC to acquire the Gregory cogeneration plant in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The cogeneration plant is equivalent to an approximately 560 megawatt (MW) Combined Cycle Gas Turbine plant with generation capacity of approximately 400 nominal MW and steam capacity of more than a million pounds per hour (160 MW of electricity equivalent). NRG is paying approximately $244 million for the plant. Counting both electrical generation and steam production, this cost equates to approximately $436 per kilowatt.

The Gregory cogeneration plant provides steam, processed water and a small percentage of its electrical generation to the Corpus Christi Sherwin Alumina plant. The majority of the baseload generation is available for sale in ERCOT.

This adds greater NRG capacity in ERCOT’s south zone, where the company currently serves significant retail load and looks to continue to expand its customer base in this growing part of the state. The Gregory cogeneration unit came online in 2000.