
NTE Energy (NTE) has entered into long-term power purchase agreements with the Towns of Black Creek, Lucama, Sharpsburg, and Stantonsburg in North Carolina.
Under the terms of the agreement, the municipalities will purchase a portion of the capacity from NTE’s 475-MW Kings Mountain combined-cycle natural gas plant in Cleveland County, N.C.
NTE Energy had already reached a power contract for Kings Mountain with a city in South Carolina.
NTE broke ground on the Kings Mountain Energy Center on July 28, 2015, with Argan (NYSE:AGX) subsidiary Gemma Power Systems, LLC building the facility under a fully-wrapped engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services contract.
NTE Energy says the $800m facility will be one of the most efficient and clean sources of capacity and energy in the Carolinas employing Mitsubishi’s GAC turbine technology in a combined-cycle configuration. The plant is scheduled for commercial operation in 2018.
Kings Mountain will provide approximately 250-350 jobs during construction, and 25-30 full-time positions during operation.
“NTE is pleased to partner with four more North Carolina municipalities that will benefit from our economical, reliable, and clean sources of energy in the Carolinas,” said NTE President and CEO Seth Shortlidge. Mayor Bill Edmundson of Stantonsburg said, “We are excited and optimistic about the potential savings to our respective clients by working with NTE.”