Combined Cycle

DTE Energy Breaks Ground on Blue Water Gas-Fired Plant

The natural gas-fueled generation plant will be located in East China Township, Michigan, and is expected to be online in 2022. It will produce electricity for the equivalent of 850,000 homes.
DTE Energy Breaks Ground on Blue Water Gas-Fired Plant

Detroit-based DTE Energy broke ground Tuesday on its $1 billion Blue Water Energy Center.

The natural gas-fueled generation plant will be located in East China Township, Michigan, and is expected to be online in 2022. It will produce electricity for the equivalent of 850,000 homes.

“Just over a year ago, DTE first announced a broad sustainability initiative to reduce carbon emissions by more than 80 percent and do it in a way that maintains affordability and reliability for our customers,” said Gerry Anderson, chairman and CEO, DTE Energy, in a statement.  “In fact, we’re already doing it.

 

Anderson said DTE has invested more than $2.5 billion in renewable energy projects, but needs dependable power even as coal-fired plants are retired.

“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 pre-qualification process for local sub-contractors. Additionally, GE Power has been chosen to provide the major generation equipment. 

“The new, cleaner natural gas power plant will create hundreds of jobs and provide additional revenue that we can put toward improving our roads, schools and other essential services,” said St. Clair County Commissioner Jeff Bohm. “This $1 billion investment is a significant boost to our community and helps assure continued job growth while ensuring we can meet our state’s energy needs.”

Blue Water Energy Center, unanimously approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) earlier this year, will run on natural gas and use combined-cycle technology that captures waste heat to produce additional electricity. The plant will be 70 percent cleaner and 40 percent more efficient than the three coal-fired plants DTE plans to retire by 2023.