Panda Power Funds, a Texas-based private equity fund, last week announced two big investments in PJM, proposing a 859 MW natural gas-fired power plant in southern Maryland and purchasing rights to a planned 829 MW natural gas generator in rural northern Pennsylvania.
The fund announced Aug. 22 that it had completed the acquisition and financing of Moxie Energy’s planned Liberty combined-cycle generating station in Bradford County, Pa. The fund said it is the first new generator developed to take advantage of its proximity to the Marcellus Shale gas formation. Construction will begin immediately, and commercial operations are scheduled to begin by early 2016, the company said.
The announcement came a day after the fund announced plans for the 859 MW Mattawoman generator in Prince George’s County, Md., a suburb of Washington, D.C.
Founded in 2010, the fund has invested in three combined-cycle power plants currently under construction in Texas, and a 20 MW photovoltaic solar farm in Pilesgrove Township, N.J., which was completed in 2011.
Todd W. Carter, president and senior partner, said the Liberty project was one of several opportunities the fund considered in PJM. The Liberty plant will use Siemens’ H-class gas turbines, which claim operating efficiencies of 60% and will be cooled by air rather than water. Panda Power will be the majority owner of the project with Moxie Energy retaining a minority share.
The Mattawoman plant will use recycled municipal waste water for cooling. Pending approval of the Maryland Public Service Commission, the fund hopes to begin construction by early 2015 with completion by mid-2017.
