Power plant near Sigurd proposed

Northern Sevier County could be the site of a coal-fired power generation plant in about five years.

Bountiful-based Nevco Energy Co. is sponsoring the project to build a 270-megawatt plant. The net output would be 250 megawatts, enough to power about 125,000 homes.

The $350 million plant would be on 162 acres along U.S. 89 near Sigurd.

If Nevco receives state and local permits it needs, construction could begin in two or three years. About 250 people would be employed during the construction phase, although that would peak at about 400. About 85 people would be employed in the plant's operations.

"We believe there is a significant energy need arising in the United States," said Clark Mower, a consultant on the project. "If you look at what has happened to fuel pricing on natural gas facilities, you'll see those prices are significantly higher than they have been, and they are expected to be that way for an extended period of time. There needs to be a diversity of fuel base."

Mower said the Sevier Power Co. plant has the three main elements in place when a company considers building a power plant: proximity to coal and to power transmission facilities, plus easy transport of coal. "There is a confluence of those in that particular area," he said.

The plant is expected to use about 940,000 tons of coal per year, with deliveries five days a week during daytime hours.

The plant's fuel will be Utah coal, although Nevco has no contracts in place with specific mines. Mower said it also is premature to have power purchase contracts in place.

"It is not funded or affiliated with any power companies at this time," he said. "It's uncontracted, but this won't be a merchant facility, in which the plant is built and the power is then sold on the open, or spot, market. The nature of this facility, with both cost and duration, as a baseload facility, means the purchase contracts would have to be long term and in place before we would begin construction."

The coal pile would be covered and contained inside a building.

But the company says using air-cooling technology instead of water cooling will result in less water being used than in a typical coal-fired plant. While Nevco says it has acquired sufficient land and water rights for the project, the plant would use less water than what is needed to farm a 50-acre parcel for a year.