The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on Wednesday approved an air quality plan for construction of a gas-fired power plant, the first to be powered, at least in part, by natural gas harvested from the Marcellus Shale.

Moxie Liberty LLC, a subsidiary of Moxie Energy LLC, plans to build a 936 MW power plant in Asylum Township, which is in Bradford County. Vienna, VA-based Moxie said the project would take about 30 months to complete and would employ an average of 200 skilled and nonskilled workers, with a peak workforce of about 500.

On its project website, Moxie said it hopes to “take advantage of the abundant natural gas resources in the area and the skilled workforce that has developed around the domestic natural gas production.” The $800 million-plus facility is expected to come online in mid-2015 and create 25 to 35 permanent jobs, Moxie said.

“Today is a red-letter day for Pennsylvania,” DEP Secretary Michael Krancer said. “With this approval, Moxie now has all that it needs from DEP to move forward with the construction of this historic facility, which will use clean, pipeline-quality, locally produced natural gas as fuel.”

The DEP said the facility will have two power blocks, each with a combustion gas turbine, a steam turbine and a combined cycle process capable of generating up to 468 MW. The units will also have heat recovery steam generators and supplemental duct burners. Waste heat from the turbine generators will be converted to steam in the heat-recovery generators and piped to the turbines. An air-cooled condenser will convert the steam to condensed water, which will be sent back to the heat-recovery steam generators.

Moxie said the plant would only be fueled by natural gas; there would be no diesel oil backup.

DEP regulators determined that the proposed levels of air emissions from the facility satisfy federal and state best available control technology requirements, as well as lowest achievable emission rate requirements. The agency also issued an industrial stormwater permit and gave approval for the use of water as drinking water.

The DEP added that as a condition for approval, Moxie is required to perform air quality testing and submit the results to the DEP for review. The agency said proposed emissions from the plant “will not cause or significantly contribute to air pollution in violation of national ambient air quality standards.”

Krancer concurred. “This power plant will benefit the environment and the economy by using a cleaner fuel and creating hundreds of jobs,” he said.

Moxie’s new power plant in Bradford County could precede at least two other facilities. The DEP said it was reviewing an air quality plan application by a sister company, Moxie Patriot LLC, for a similar facility to be built in Clinton Township in Lycoming County.

Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Thursday that LS Power Group plans to build a $750 million, 900 MW power plant in Lawrence County. LS Power said the facility will be brought online in 2016 or 2017 and will be fueled with natural gas from an unspecified pipeline.