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Houston-based JERA Americas has reached an agreement to buy three generating facilities in Sandwich as part of a deal with Stonepeak. The facilities are Canal 1, Canal 2 and Canal 3. The acquisition would also include a Stonepeak facility in Bucksport, Maine. The four facilities generate a combined 1,633 megawatts. JERA Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs John OBrien declined to disclose the financial terms of the deal. The company plans to keep the Sandwich plants 48 employees when the purchase is approved. OBrien expects it will take three to four months to obtain the necessary federal approvals before the acquisition is complete. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission must approve the sale, and because JERA Americas is a Houston-based subsidiary of JERA, a Japanese company, its purchase requires federal approval. OBrien is confident the company will get those approvals. JERA has been through that before on other transactions, he said. We think it will go smoothly. JERA America is the US arm of JERA, the largest power company in Japan. It produces about 30% of that countrys electricity. The first step is to obtain approval and close on the sale of the plants. The second step is two-fold. The company plans to talk with offshore wind farm operators about interconnections. It also wants to consider different types of low-carbon fuels that could be used at the sites. The Sandwich plants currently operate on oil and gas. OBrien said company officials would consider using low-carbon or renewable diesel fuels instead. The plants could use up to 1,500 megawatts of wind power. But that depends on the interconnection rights and agreements developed with ISO New England and Eversource, he said. The plant is approved for delivering up to 1,500 megawatts of electricity into the regional power grid. But its only used during times of peak demand, according to an existing Stonepeak interconnection agreement. OBrien estimated that in general, the units run 5% of the year. Times of extreme heat and cold are when they are needed. JERA indicated that Canal is a perfect example of being able to locate off-shore wind with a plant that is still needed, according to OBrien. Cape Wind in Nantucket Sound could build up to 84 turbines and produce 800 megawatts of power when construction is complete. OBrien and JERA are confident more wind farms are coming, as indicated by the number of requests for proposals in Massachusetts alone. There will be more wind, he said. The company is intent on finding ways to get to net-zero carbon emissions. It has invested in Zenobe, a company researching battery storage, to reach that goal. If batteries become a viable solution, the Canal plants will have room for battery storage, but there is no immediate plan for it, OBrien said. |
