Another company is advancing plans to construct a 1,100 MW natural gas-fired power plant in Guernsey County, OH, that would utilize production from the Marcellus and Utica shales to provide electricity in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Apex Power Group LLC has already applied for electrical interconnection and plans to file for permits this summer with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Power Siting Board. The Guernsey Power Station, according to the company, could provide power for about one million homes in the region.

The facility would use two natural-gas fired combustion turbines and a steam turbine to produce electricity. Apex has proposed a site in Valley Township near the Rockies Express Pipeline, according to local news media reports.

Founded in 2007, Apex has thus far completed the Panoche Energy Center, a 400 MW natural gas-fired power plant in California. It is currently seeking financing for another natural gas-fired facility in Texas that would produce 450-900 MW of electricity. The company would also need to secure financing for the Guernsey Power Station.

That facility would be located in the heart of the Utica Shale. Guernsey is a leader in both Utica natural gas and oil production (see Shale Daily, March 11). The state has issued 190 Utica permits in the county.

Apex has been in discussions with local officials about the plant. It would employ about 500 people during construction and provide another 25 full-time positions once constructed. The company hopes to begin construction in 2018 and have the facility in-service by 2020.

Apex’s proposal is the seventh of its kind in the state. The Ohio Power Siting Board has received six applications since 2012 to either construct new natural gas-fired power plants or convert existing facilities to run on natural gas as a result of growing unconventional production in the region. That number increased last week after the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approved plans by American Electric Power Co. and FirstEnergy Corp. that would allow the companies to keep outdated coal and nuclear plants running and convert others to natural gas (see Daily GPI, March 31).