Competitive Power Ventures Inc.’s (CPV) $1.3 billion natural gas-fired combined-cycle power plant in northern Illinois has begun commercial operations to add 1,250 MW to the PJM Interconnection grid. 

Three Rivers Energy Center is expected to bolster PJM, the regional transmission operator for 13 states and Washington, DC. The region is facing “potential resource adequacy issues in the years to come due to looming facility retirements and increasing demand due to electrification,” according to CPV. 

The center is equipped with two General Electric (GE) combustion turbines, two heat recovery steam generators and two steam turbines. It is the third plant of this kind developed with CPV, noted GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik.  

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