JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – JEA is a step closer to constructing a $1.57 billion natural gas power plant in Jacksonville’s Northside, according to a report from News4JAX news partner the Jacksonville Daily Record.
The Jacksonville Planning Commission approved a zoning exception on Thursday that allows the city-owned utility to construct the plant at the former St. Johns River Power Park.
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The plant is planned on 40 acres at 11201 New Berlin Road.
Because the Planning Commission serves as the final decision-maker for non-alcohol-related zoning exceptions, no further action is needed.
Brenna Durden, an attorney representing JEA, said the utility expects the plant to be operational by late 2030 or early 2031.
JEA materials presented to its board said the utility planned to bring the plant online by late 2031 or early 2032.
JEA shut down and demolished a coal-powered power plant at the location in 2018.
JEA says the new unit will produce fewer emissions than a 48-year-old gas-fired unit at JEA’s Northside Generating Station, which JEA hopes to retire.
The planned power plant at the former St. Johns River Power Park is capable of being powered by hydrogen, should the emerging technology for operating power plants on that fuel be perfected.
According to JEA documents, the new facility would generate up to 675 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 300,000 homes. The current Northside unit produces 524 megawatts.
Read the full story at JaxDailyRecord.com.