Work has begun on a 1,182 megawatt, $1.3 billion gas-fired combined cycle power plant in eastern Ohio.

The South Field Energy facility was first proposed in 2015 and is being built by Bechtel with an expected start of commercial operation in 2021. Once open, it will employ around 25 people.

Bechtel will be responsible for the engineering, procurement and construction of the power plant, which will use General Electric power generation equipment including two natural gas turbines, each paired with a heat recovery steam generator and a steam turbine generator. Bechtel Enterprises partnered with Advanced Power to develop the project.

In late August, Advanced Power closed on $1.3 billion financing for the project. Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, CIT Group Inc., GE Energy Financial Services, NH Investment & Securities Co. and 10 other commercial banks are providing senior secured credit plus other credit facilities.

Advanced Power and an investor group consisting of Kyushu Electric Power Co. Inc., NH-Amundi Asset Management and PIA Investment Management, RS Global Capital Investment LLC (a joint venture between Development Bank of Japan and Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K.), Shikoku Electric Power Co. Inc., and an affiliate of Bechtel Development Company Inc. own the facility.

The power plant is the second major project in Ohio for the Bechtel-Advanced Power partners, which completed the 700 MW Carroll County Energy Facility in December 2017. The partners are also building the Cricket Valley Energy Center, a natural gas-fired, combined-cycle power facility in Dover, NY.