$1.3B Ohio Project Advances

By Anca Gagiuc

The $1.3 billion South Field Energy project proposed three years ago for Columbiana County, Ohio, is about to enter the next phase of development. Bracewell represented AP Energy Holdings, an affiliate of Advanced Power AG and South Field Energy, in the closing of financing and equity arrangements for the construction of the 1,182-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas electric generating facility.

Advanced Power and an investor group consisting of Kyushu Electric Power Co., NH-Amundi Asset Management and PIA Investment Management, RS Global Capital Investment (a joint venture between Development Bank of Japan and Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K.), Shikoku Electric Power Co., and an affiliate of Bechtel Development Co., own the facility. Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, CIT Group, GE Energy Financial Services, NH Investment & Securities Co. and 10 other commercial banks are providing senior secured credit plus other credit facilities.

Completion anticipated for 2021

The South Field Energy facility will occupy nearly 20 acres of land, part of a 150-acre parcel, about 3 miles from Wellsville, Ohio. It will use two General Electric gas turbines, each with a heat recovery steam generator and steam turbine generator, and will produce sufficient electricity to power roughly one million homes.

Advanced Power—which led the development of the project—will be the construction and asset manager. Bechtel will undertake the engineering, procurement and construction of the energy center, slated for completion in the second quarter of 2021. During its peak period, South Field Energy is estimated to create approximately 1,000 construction jobs. Once it begins commercial operation, the facility will be managed by Advanced Power and will sell energy, capacity and ancillary services into the PJM market.

“The community has supported South Field Energy from the beginning. The environmental, economic and regional tax-based benefits are clear and well understood. The community has worked closely with us and we are pleased to be able to deliver our second major project in Ohio and third major project in the U.S. We and our partners, who are leaders in the energy and finance sectors, will construct a state-of-the-art low-carbon electric generating facility that will benefit both the State’s energy portfolio and the people who rely on it,” Thomas Spang, Advanced Power’s CEO said in a prepared statement.