DTE Energy breaks ground on 1.15GW Blue Water Energy Center in Michigan

DTE Energy has broken ground on Blue Water Energy Center, a 1,150MW natural-gas fired power plant in East China Township in St. Clair County in the US state of Michigan.

Blue Water Energy Center, which is expected to cost $1 billion, is slated to be commissioned in 2022. Upon its commissioning, the natural-gas fired power project will generate enough electricity to meet the power consumption needs of 850,000 homes.

Blue Water Energy Center will operate on natural gas and utilize the combined-cycle technology that captures waste heat to generate additional electricity. DTE Energy claims that the new gas-fired power plant in Michigan will be 70% cleaner and 40% more energy efficient in comparison to its three coal-fired power plants – River Rouge power plant, St. Clair power plant and Trenton Channel power plant, which will all be retired by 2023.

Illustration of DTE Energy’s Blue Water Energy Center in Michigan. Photo courtesy of PRNewsfoto/DTE Energy.

Commenting on the Blue Water Energy Center, Gerry Anderson – Chairman and CEO of DTE Energy, said: “Just over a year ago, DTE first announced a broad sustainability initiative to reduce carbon emissions by more than 80 percent and do it in a way that maintains affordability and reliability for our customers.

“In fact, we’re already doing it. Since 2009 we have driven investments of more than $2.5 billion in renewable energy with more investments coming.  But as we continue to retire coal-fired power plants – all of them by 2040 – we need to complement wind farms and solar arrays with high reliability assets.

“As we Michiganders know well, the wind doesn’t always blow, and the sun doesn’t always shine in our beautiful state. And that’s why we need natural gas-fueled plants like the Blue Water Energy Center. When it begins operations in 2022, it will represent our single largest step in reducing carbon emissions to date.”

Kiewit Engineering (MI) will handle the construction of Blue Water Energy Center. The Kiewit company is expected to invest over $200m on Michigan-based labor and materials.

On the other hand, GE Power will provide the major generation equipment for the Blue Water Energy Center.

Overall, the new power plant in Michigan will create more than 500 roles during its construction stage in addition to 35 full-time roles to monitor its operations.

Jeff Bohm – St. Clair County Commissioner, commenting on the Blue Water Energy Center, said: “The new, cleaner natural gas power plant will create hundreds of jobs and provide additional revenue that we can put toward improving our roads, schools and other essential services.This $1 billion investment is a significant boost to our community and helps assure continued job growth while ensuring we can meet our state’s energy needs.”

For more power plant news and updates on DTE Energy and its Blue Water Energy Center, keep following Business-News-Today.com.