2 March 2006 Quail Run Energy Center to Begin Construction 1Q2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
QUAIL RUN ENERGY CENTER TO BEGIN CONSTRUCTION FIRST QUARTER 2006
(ODESSA, TEXAS - March 2, 2006) --- Navasota Odessa Energy Partners LP formally announced today that Quail Run Energy Center has received its air permit from the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality and will commence construction in Odessa in the first quarter of 2006.
Once completed, Quail Run Energy Center will be a 550 megawatt, gas-fired combined cycle power plant that will be built in two separate 275 megawatt phases and will be located in the newly-expanded Odessa Business Park. According to Navasota President Frank Giacalone, Odessa was chosen for a number of reasons including its access to the electric grid, the water needed for the cooling process and proximity to sources of natural gas.
The new facility will be designed using state-of-the-art emissions control technology that meets or exceeds all state and federal regulations for a plant of this type. The initial staff on site will consist of at least 14 highly-skilled employees and there will be between 150 and 200 employed at the peak of each construction phases.
All capital required for the development and construction of the Colorado Bend and Quail Run facilities was arranged by Willow Bend Capital Management of Dallas, Texas. Willow Bend will also provide owner's oversight services.
Navasota will start construction this quarter on not just Quail Run Energy Center, but also its Colorado Bend Energy Center southwest of Houston. These are the first significant non-utility, natural gas-fired plants to be started since 2003.
According to the independent grid operator ERCOT, the closing of aging plants over the last few years will cut the reserve margins to below the 12 percent minimum requirement as early as mid-2007 - four years earlier than expected.
"This is all about replacing old, inefficient gas units and taking advantage of growth in Texas,'' said Dan Hudson, Chief Financial Officer for Navasota. "The majority of the state's proposed facilities will not be online until 2010-2011 and Navasota will have the only large plants coming online in 2007 and maybe 2008.''
The Odessa Development Corporation was instrumental in bringing Quail Run to Odessa, said Neil McDonald, Director of Economic Development for the Odessa Chamber of Commerce. "The partnership with ODC, Odessa Industrial Development Corporation, the Chamber of Commerce and the City of Odessa has made Quail Run Energy possible here in Odessa. We all look forward to this new venture together." The Odessa Development Corporation was also responsible for bringing what will now be Quail Run Energy's neighbor, Odessa Ector Power Partners.
"We were looking for a community that wanted us, and Odessa knew how to respond," said Giacalone. "The economic development staff here really guided us through the process."
Recently, Quail Run was included in a proposal put forward by the Permian Basin Council of Governments as the site for the FutureGen Texas initiative. That initiative is intended to convert efficient gas-fired power plants into clean coal technology IGCC plants as part of our national effort to reduce dependence on foreign fuel sources. Navasota intends to set the benchmark for future environmentally-sound solid fuel plants in Texas.
Navasota Energy Partners LP is a Houston-based energy development and asset management company.
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Contact: Christi Callicoatte CVA Advertising & Marketing 432.368.5483 PublicRe@navasotaenergy.com
