Calpine Corp. continued its torrid growth last week byannouncing intentions to build two new power plants in theSoutheast. The 1,500 MW of production generated by the newlyproposed plants is expected to be available in 2003. Calpine saidit expects to invest $805 million for the two plants.

Calpine, now has a portfolio of nearly 14,000 MW of generationin operation, under construction or in development. The San Jose,CA-based company claims to lead the U.S. power industry with thelargest construction and development program – more than 10projects in construction totaling 4,376 MW and 11 facilities indevelopment totaling 6,278 MW by 2003. Just last month, Calpinerevised its growth strategy going forward, saying the old plan wasnot ambitious enough. The revised five-year power portfolio targetis now 25,000 MW, up from 15,000 MW by 2003.

The larger of the two facilities is the 800 MW Lone Oak EnergyCenter in Lowndes County, MS. The Lone Oak Energy Center willutilize three 501F series combustion turbines and a single steamturbine in combined-cycle supplied by Siemens-Westinghouse. Calpinewill manage all aspects of project development for the facility,including engineering and design, construction, fuel supply andpower marketing. Permitting activity has been progressing sincelast fall. The project’s air permit application will be submittedthis month, with other permit applications to follow shortly.Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2001.

“The Southeast power market is poised for the development ofindependent power facilities and is expected to need up to 2,700MW/year of new generation to keep up with growing consumerdemand,” said Bob Alff, Calpine senior vice president. “Our LoneOak project is ideally located on an 180-acre site adjacent tohigh-capacity electric transmission and natural gas service thatprovide access to multiple demand centers throughout theSoutheastern Electric Reliability Council.”

The other project is a 700 MW plant in Tallapoosa County, AL,called the Hillabee Energy Center. This $380 million plant isexpected to provide electricity for around 1.4 million households.It will use two Siemens-Westinghouse combustion turbines and asingle steam turbine.

The Hillabee facility is Calpine’s second investment in theAlabama power market. The company previously announced plans for asimilar natural gas-fired energy facility in Decatur, AL. atSolutia Inc.’s. chemical facility. Steam and a portion of the powerfrom that facility will be sold to the Solutia chemical facility,with the balance of electricity being sold in the wholesale market.Both facilities will help meet growing demand for electricity inthe Southeastern U.S.

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