The combined-cycle power project will produce a nominal electrical power output of 600MW for delivery to California’s grid system. It is being developed by a unit of Australian bank Macquarie Group.
Construction is expected to begin in April 2010 and to be completed in approximately 27 months. Initial plant start-up is scheduled for October, 2011, with commercial operation expected in June, 2012.
The Avenal energy project is proposed by Avenal power center, a wholly owned subsidiary of Macquarie Energy North America Trading of Houston, Texas. The plant would be built on 25 acres of a 148-acre site that is south of the Fresno County line and about two miles east of Interstate 5. It is located approximately six miles from the city of Avenal’s residential and commercial districts.
