By Paul Morden, from www.theobserver.ca The Observer
A senior official with the company planning a $360-million natural gas-fired electricity generating project in St. Clair Township says construction could begin in late spring or summer.
Hubert Vogt, vice-president of Eastern Power Ltd., said it is working on the approvals needed for the plant. “The environmental screening is basically done and now we’re waiting for the Ministry of the Environment to OK it.”
The 300-MW plant will replace one that was being built in Mississauga when it was cancelled by the Ontario government during the 2011 provincial election campaign.
Eastern Power is considering two possible sites on Oil Springs Line for the new plant. One is near the Lambton Generating Station and the other is a short distance east of there.
“We’re still got a few answers that we need to have and then we’ll make a choice,” Vogt said. “We’re not quite at the point where we can do that yet.” He said Eastern Power had originally hoped to have all of the details in place to begin construction this spring. “That’s starting to look like it might be late spring or summer.”
Vogt said the company will push to get all of the approvals the project needs, as quickly as it can. The federal government has said it won’t require an environmental assessment of the project, he said. “We’re starting to deal with the detailed approvals with the local municipality.”
The project is expected to create 350 short-term construction jobs, along with 35 permanent jobs at the plant itself.
Construction is expected to take about two years.
St. Clair Township is already home to two natural gas-fired electricity plants.
The 577-MW St. Clair Energy Centre opened there in 2009 and the 1005-MW Greenfield Energy Centre began operating a year before that.