PHOTO COURTESY OF PGE
[quote style=”2″]Project to Create 500 Jobs During Construction[/quote]
Portland General Electric Company announced Monday plans to build a $455 million natural gas-fired power plant in Boardman.
The new plant, to be build adjacent to its coal-fired power plant in Boardman, will be capable of generating up to 440 megawatts and serve about 300,000 residential customers. The project will create up to 500 jobs during construction and about 20 full-time positions when operating.
PGE also announced on Monday that it will construct a new wind farm near Walla Walla capable of generating 267 megawatts. That project is expected to cost between $520 and $535 million. PGE also reached a non-binding agreement with Bonneville Power Administration to buy 1,500 megawatts of transmission capacity.
The gas-fired plant will be built by by Abengoa S.A., one of 18 companies who put in bids for the project. PGE will own and operate the new facility, which is scheduled to be online in 2016.
The wind farm project will be built for PGE by general contractor and independent renewable power developer RES Americas Construction Inc., using 116 wind turbines manufactured by Siemens Energy Inc. PGE will own and operate the facility, creating up to 300 jobs during construction and about 18 full-time operating positions. The facility is expected to be complete in 2015 and generate enough power to serve about 84,000 residential customers.
The two plants will cost PGE nearly $1 billion to construct.
“These two new resources will serve our customers with clean, cost-effective, efficiently generated power for decades to come,” said Jim Piro, PGE’s president and CEO.
