Gemma Power Systems (GPS) has started construction of the 475MW natural gas-fired power plant in Middletown, Ohio, US.

Commencement follows receipt of full notice to proceed with activities under the $300m engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services contract with NTE Ohio, an affiliate of NTE Energy.The interim notice to proceed to commence activities under the contract was issued in August.

GPS CEO William Griffin said: “We’re pleased to be working with NTE on this state-of-the-art facility and look forward to delivering a great project experience for them.”

Employing around 300 craft workers at the peak of construction, the Middletown Energy Centre project will generate up to 30 full-time jobs in the region to operate the facility when completed.

The power plant will feature an advanced Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas M501GAC combustion turbine generator, a Vogt Power International supplementary fired heat recovery steam generator, and a Toshiba America Energy Systems steam turbine generator.

Work on the Middletown Energy Centre project is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2018.
Ohio power plant is one of two similar projects that GPS has been contracted to undertake for NTE. The second power plant will be built in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, for NTE Carolinas.

Requiring similar components to the Middletown Energy Centre project, the Kings Mountain Energy Centre project is expected to be released this month and will be completed in late 2018.

GPS has won several EPC contracts in the last few months, to construct nearly 3,000MW of natural gas-fired generation power plants in five states across the US.