Private power plant developer Longview Power LLC has asked West Virginia regulators to approve plans to build a 1,200-MW natural gas-fired power plant and 20-MW solar facility next to its existing Longview Power advanced supercritical coal-fired power plant.
Longview affiliates on Sept. 12 told the West Virginia Public Service Commission the project would benefit the state by adding jobs and updating West Virginia's generation mix. An application for the project filed by Longview Power II LLC and Longview Renewable Power LLC said the region is likely continue to see retirement of older power plants.
"The project represents progress for West Virginia as a path to modernize the state's generating fleet and maintain its legacy as a significant electric power exporter," the companies said.
The gas and solar facilities in West Virginia would be located next to the 700-MW Longview Power coal plant built in 2011 in Monongalia County. The company is calling the entire complex the Longview Power Clean Energy Center.
In the application, the companies asked the commission to grant to Longview Power II a siting certificate for the gas-fired power plant and a certificate of public convenience and necessity for a 500-kV transmission line that will run about three-quarters of a mile from the facility to the North Longview switchyard in Pennsylvania.
The companies also asked the commission to issue a siting certificate to Longview Renewable Power for the solar facility. The solar project will be split into two pieces, with 50 MW located in Pennsylvania, where it will need a stormwater construction permit, said Longview COO Stephen Nelson. That application will be filed at a later date, he said.
The project would connect to the grid in Pennsylvania and Longview is working its way through the PJM Interconnection's interconnection process, Nelson said.
The companies said the gas facility would sell into the PJM market. The companies expect the solar portion of the project will provide power to off-takers under bilateral contracts, with portions of capacity possibly sold into the PJM market.
If approved, construction would start in August 2020, with the project online in late 2023 or early 2024. (West Virginia PSC Case No. 19-0890-E-CS)
Ratings downgrade
Meanwhile, S&P Global Ratings downgraded Longview Power's senior secured term loan B facility to CCC from CCC+ and revised the recovery rating to 4 from 3.
The rating agency said that Longview Power's liquidity has weakened to the point that without an improvement in business and financial conditions, the coal-fired plant could default when its revolving credit facility matures in April 2020.
"The 'CCC' rating reflects our view that lower-than-expected power prices in the Pennsylvania-Jersey-Maryland (PJM) Interconnection drove operational underperformance at Longview in the first half of 2019," Ratings said in a Sept. 12 ratings action. "The PJM power price futures curve also indicates low prices in the second half of 2019 and 2020, further straining the project's forecasted liquidity and weakening its debt service coverage ratios."
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