Entergy Louisiana LLC on May 23 began commercial operation at the 980-MW St. Charles natural gas-fired power station.

The Entergy Corp. subsidiary said combined-cycle gas turbine units like St. Charles emit on average about 40% less CO2 than the company's older gas units.

The facility, representing an investment of approximately $870 million, will operate in the Midcontinent ISO territory, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

"Replacing older, less efficient plants with new, cleaner natural gas units will improve system reliability, reduce environmental impacts and produce substantial customer savings over the long term," Entergy Louisiana President and CEO Phillip May said in a May 29 release.

The facility is one of the six generation projects totaling approximately $3.5 billion across Entergy's service area over the next three years.