Navasota prepares to build: Company to break ground on power plant on May 16

Frank Giacalone, president of Navasota Energy Co., told news reporters congregated at the entrance to the site south of Interstate 20, that 16 trucks of equipment are already located on the site where the facility will be built. He said a total of 88 trucks will eventually bring equipment to the site including gas turbines weighing 50-70 tons and gas generators weighing about 100 tons. Most of the early construction involves underground supporting structure, he indicated.

The generators are not yet on site, but will probably arrive in September or October, he said.

"By January it will start looking like a power plant," Giacalone said. He said the power plant will take about 16 months to complete He said the company anticipates growing demand for electrical power because "the economy is growing at a rate of 2 to 4 percent a year and as it does we need new power generation."

Giacalone also said the power plant is expected to produce 80 percent of its electrical output between May and October each year. Plans for the groundbreaking ceremony haven't been completed, he said, but State Rep. George E. "Buddy" West of Odessa, State Sen. Kel Seliger of Amarillo and other officials, including Gov. Rick Perry will be invited.

Giacalone said some of the equipment has yet to arrive in Odessa, including gas turbines and generators that are extremely heavy and would be difficult to move down the south service road to Interstate 20 that is now being resurfaced. Navasota is building two power plants in Texas, he said. The other plant is located at Wharton, near Houston, and the two plants will be identical both in design in electrical production. They also are being constructed on the same time schedule, he said.

"In fact," said Giacalone, "our teams kind of have a competition going to see who can get theirs built first." He said the 550 megawatt power plants are to be constructed so much alike that a person who was familiar with one could be blindfolded and still easily find his way through the other. Once the plant is completed, Giacalone said, it will employ 14 to 15 people during the first phase and a few more during the second phase. During the construction phase, as many as 250 to 400 workers are expected to be hired.