Dive Brief:

• Emera Energy announced last week it would spend $80 million to upgrade its 265-MW gas-fired facility in Rhode Island, and in doing so would gain an additional 22 MW of capacity.
• That may turn out to be a familiar story, according to the president of the New England Power Generators Association, who told Platts that market structure in the region has operators looking to boost capacity at existing facilities rather than construct new plants.
• The end result, NEPGA President Dan Dolan told Platts, will likely be lower prices in the wholesale market.

Dive Insight:

Emera Energy last week announced it had tapped GE to perform $80 million in upgrades to its Tiverton combined-cycle gas plant in Rhode Island. But the most significant part of the announcement was probably that the work would add 22 MW to the company's portfolio and would make the facility more profitable.

“The upgrades by GE will include best-in-class technology and will improve Tiverton Power’s efficiency and output. They also will increase its availability by extending the maintenance intervals,” Dave Pickles, Emera Energy’s vice president of operations, said in a statement.

The upgrades to the plant's gas turbines will save an estimated $1 million in fuel costs annually, the company said.

Platts asked NEPGA President Dolan about the upgrade, and he replied that because of the region's market structure generators are getting thinking about how they add capacity. "I think some folks — Emera Energy certainly is an example — are finding that one of the best ways to add efficient generating capacity [in New England] is to do that at an existing facility rather than build a new plant,” he told the news outlet.

Dolan also noted that as plants become more efficient “and heat rates improve, that will be reflected in energy prices in the wholesale market."

Emera Energy acquired Tiverton two years ago, along with the 520-MW Bridgeport Energy power plant in Connecticut and the 265-MW Rumford Power facility in Maine. “The company’s goal is to enhance the three power plants to increase their competitiveness as other power plants in the region are retired and more intermittent renewable energy supplies are added to the grid,” Emera said in its statement.