Halyard Energy Signs Engineering, Procurement and Construction Contract for a Peaking Power Plant in Texas

CHICAGO, Jan. 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Halyard Energy Ventures, LLC (Halyard) announced today that Halyard Energy Wharton, LLC signed an Engineering, Procurement and Construction Contract with Texas-based Lauren Engineers & Constructors, Inc. (Lauren) for the Halyard Wharton Energy Center (HWEC) in Wharton County, Texas. The HWEC, located within the South Zone of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), will be a 348 MW natural gas-fired, simple-cycle power generating facility.

"Lauren brings the experience and integrity we are looking for; with more than 33 years of successfully designing and building similar projects. They are strategically located to provide full turnkey services to bring the project to successful completion," says Chris DePodesta, partner at Halyard.

"Halyard is ahead of the curve in bringing flexible and efficient peaking capacity to ERCOT. We've assembled a team of experts to construct a responsive, reliable, and low-cost project as envisioned by the Halyard team," says Jack Shoemate, Executive Vice President of Power at Lauren.

The HWEC is scheduled to enter commercial operations in 2019 and will complement the substantial and steady growth of renewable resources and load within ERCOT, which serves 24 million customers. In the past year, several significant coal-fired retirements have been announced, substantially lowering ERCOT's reserve margin.  As a result, the likelihood of scarcity pricing events has increased. The HWEC has received all permits and entitlements required to begin construction in 2018, allowing it to best respond to the current market conditions.

"The energy mix in Texas is trending toward intermittent generation resources as the demand for power continues to increase.  Considering the retirements of baseload facilities, it is clear there is a need for new peaking power," says Karl Dahlstrom, partner at Halyard. "Our Wharton plant fills an immediate need for flexible generation and our plan for additional gas-fired plants align with future demands in the market."

Halyard Energy Ventures, LLC is headquartered in Chicago, IL and is the limited liability management group, formed for the purpose of developing and managing a portfolio of flexible generation projects. Halyard has a portfolio of five natural-gas peaking projects underway; HWEC being one of them. The principals of Halyard have a long and consistent track record of developing commercial scale power plants from inception to operation. For more information, please visit http://www.halyardenergy.com.

Lauren Engineers & Constructors is a North American Engineering, Procurement, and Construction contractor based in Abilene, Texas. Founded in 1984, the company specializes in industrial and heavy construction projects in the power, polymers, chemical, refining and specialty metals markets in the U.S. and Canada. The company is an Engineering News-Record Top 100 Design-Build Firm in the U.S. and a Top 400 Contractor.

For additional information, please contact:

Halyard Energy Ventures, LLC
10 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 875
Chicago, IL 60606
[email protected]

SOURCE Halyard Energy Ventures, LLC