Rapids Power has announced cancellation of plans to build a 225 MW combined heat and power plant, in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, which was to serve a paper mill as well as supplying power to the grid. The announcement follows a decision last spring to delay seeking a Certificate of Need permit.
The company said that the cost of the plant was too high to support marketable electricity. A downturn in the US electricity market and higher-than-expected construction costs are said to be behind the decision, as well as the weakness of the paper industry.
In North Carolina, meanwhile, Duke Energy has halted construction of a 570 MW power plant near Deming and postponed the start of work on a second plant near Clovis. Once again the slump in the price for wholesale power is cited as the reason for moves. A new construction schedule for the $250 m Deming plant is expected to be announced, but the fate of the Clovis project is not known.
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