Competitive Power Ventures has announced that the CPV Three Rivers Energy Centre, located in Grundy County, Illinois, has achieved commercial operation and is now providing clean, safe and reliable power to the electric grid. The $1.3 billion project, managed by CPV and co-owned along with Osaka Gas USA, Concord Infrastructure Investments, Harrison Street and Axium Infrastructure is one of the most efficient and lowest emitting facilities of its kind in the world and will serve as a foundational element for the state and nation’s energy transition.
“CPV Three Rivers is the next of a series of very ambitious projects we have constructed over the last decade,” said Gary Lambert, CPV’s president and CEO. “After reaching financial close and starting construction in August 2020, in the middle of a global pandemic, the outstanding team of individuals from CPV working closely with Kiewit and GE as well as the many local contractors, unions, state leadership, numerous stakeholders and community leaders worked tirelessly to complete this state-of- the-art energy centre with an exceptional safety record, including zero lost-time accidents.”
Located 60 miles south of Chicago, the combined-cycle facility utilises a state-of-the-art design powered by General Electric’s 7HA.02 turbine technology to produce dispatchable power while lowering emissions for the region and country by displacing older facilities and providing the flexible, on-demand power needed to reliably integrate additional renewable resources.
“It is truly impressive to see this project reach completion after years of development and construction,” said State Senator Sue Rezin (R-Peru). “As a longtime supporter of this project, I am excited to see CPV Three Rivers deliver cost-effective and reliable power to the grid, and I look forward to the CPV team continuing to be a part of our community.”
Project construction was successfully completed over the course of 34 months by Kiewit Power Constructors Co. and included as many as 900 skilled workers on site during peak construction. Total man hours worked during construction exceeded 2.7 million and the project achieved an impressive zero-time-lost safety record.
“The construction of CPV Three Rivers was an enormous undertaking and we are proud to have partnered with industry leaders CPV and Kiewit to build this project for our community,” said Tim Drea, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO. “Over 500 of our members worked safely and diligently to construct one of the most advanced power generation facilities in Illinois and the country.”
CPV Three Rivers will be staffed by 23 full-time operations personnel and will also create an estimated 75 additional ancillary jobs to provide services to the plant. The project will also contribute significant tax revenue which will support vital public services and school funding. “I am beyond thrilled by the completion of this monumental investment in Grundy County and our community” said Nancy E. Norton, CEO and president of the Grundy County Economic Development Council. “The whole CPV Three Rivers team, and everyone involved with this project, have been tremendous to work with and we look forward to having them be a part of our community for years to come.”
Connected to the PJM Interconnection system, CPV Three Rivers will sell its energy, capacity and ancillary services into the COMED zone of the PJM market and is capable of powering over 1,000,000 homes and businesses. The project’s dispatchable power is expected to help PJM maintain reliability as it faces potential resource adequacy issues in the years to come due to looming facility retirements and increasing demand due to electrification.
For more information visit www.cpv.com
