American Electric Power and development partner the Dow Chemical Company are expecting final permit approval in November for the construction of a 900mw USD 325 million co-generation unit to be constructed at Dow’s Plaquemine chemical complex in Louisiana. AEP plans to begin construction during December of 2001 utilising their subsidiary AEP Pro Serv Inc. for engineering design on the project, which is scheduled to take 22 months to complete. A shortlist of two general contractors has also been identified. The natural gas-fired unit will be configured with four General Electric 7FA combustion turbines and a nominal 200MW Alsthom stream turbine with a heat recovery steam generator to produce electricity and process steam for the Dow complex. A 20-year power sales agreement is also in place with Tractebel Energy Marketing Inc. a subsidiary of Belgian company Tractebel SA.
