A 549 MW natural gas-fueled power plant is slated for Marshall County, WV, and will take advantage of nearby Marcellus Shale gas supplies, its developer said.

Independent developer Moundsville Power announced its plans this week at a Marshall County Commission meeting, according to local press reports. The plant is to be on a portion of a former chemical manufacturing plant site three miles south of Moundsville, WV.

According to Moundsville’s website, the plant will consist of two combustion turbine generators (CTG) connected to two heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG). The HRSGs harness exhaust heat from the CTGs to generate high-quality, superheated steam. The steam is then used to generate electricity.

“Moundsville Power will be able to utilize abundant West Virginia natural gas by interconnecting to an existing local natural gas pipeline infrastructure,” the company said. “By doing so, the project will generate enough electricity to power approximately 549,000 homes.” Power generated will be sold on the PJM Interconnection System via existing transmission lines, which are near the site location.

According to a news report of a presentation given to local authorities by Moundsville Managing Partner Andrew Dorn, the project is expected to cost $615 million. Moundsville hopes to begin construction next spring, he said, and bring the plant online in 2018. The plant is expected to use more than $100 million worth of natural gas per year, according to Dorn, who added that the new plant will help take up the slack in generating capacity created by the recent closure of the 541 MW Burger plant and planned retirement of the 713 MW Kammer power plant.