DTE Energy has broken ground on its 1.15-gigawatt natural gas–fueled power plant in East China Township, Mich., marking the utility’s single-largest step in reducing carbon emissions thus far.
The plant will be 70 percent cleaner and 40 percent more efficient than the three coal-fired plants DTE plans to retire by 2023.
“Since 2009 we have driven investments of more than $2.5 billion in renewable energy with more investments coming,” said Gerry Anderson, chairman and CEO, DTE Energy. “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.”
The plant will be built by Kiewit Engineering (MI) Co., a Kiewit company. The company will spend a minimum of $200 million on Michigan-based labor and materials, and has begun the prequalification process for local subcontractors.
Additionally, GE Power has been chosen to provide the major generation equipment.
More than 500 Michigan skilled labor jobs will be created during construction beginning in spring 2019 and an additional 35 full-time positions will be filled when the plant becomes operational in 2022.
DTE has announced plans to double its renewable energy capacity by 2022 to 2,000 megawatts — providing enough additional electricity to power 800,000 homes, while driving investments of more than $1.7 billion in Michigan. Within the next year, DTE will begin operating the Pine River and Polaris wind parks, which will have a combined capacity of 330 megawatts and be DTE’s largest and most efficient wind parks to date.
