Princeton Road Station is to be constructed by Nebraska Public Power District
With concerns over electrical power use related to data centers, Nebraska Public Power District has broken ground on a $3.1-billion, 684-MW natural gas generation facility, the Princeton Road Station expansion near Hallam, Neb., in southern Lancaster County, with Burns & McDonnell serving as engineer-procure-construct contractor.
The expansion is planned to add dual-fuel generation capacity to strengthen long-term system reliability and support Nebraska’s growing demand, the firm said in a press release.
The project, anticipated to begin operating in 2029, includes two Siemens F-class combustion turbines and 12 Wärtsilä reciprocating engines, providing flexible, dual-fuel generation. In addition to natural gas, it will have capability to use diesel fuel.
It will «ensure we continue reliably serving our current customers» as well as supporting new industries,” said utility President and CEO Tom Kent in a press release. “These units are extremely flexible and strengthen our diverse generation mix.”
Noting the plant will have centralized balance-of-plant facilities to process, store and distribute fuel oil, urea and water, Ryan Carlson, EPC project manager for Burns & McDonnell, said those facilities «are being designed to simultaneously serve two different generation technologies and be scalable to support the potential future expansion of Princeton Road Station.»
The groundbreaking comes as power generation is increasingly a concern in Nebraska, which now has about 36 data centers. Gov. Jim Pillen (R) signed an executive order pausing data center access to tax incentives provided through the state’s ImagiNE Nebraska Act. Moving forward, the state plans to assess benefits of such projects while also looking at impacts to land, water, power and other resources.
At the July 21 signing, Pitten said 11.5% of Nebraska’s electricity goes to data centers, ranking it second in the U.S. for such usage.
«That is the day we said «pause.’ It is critical that we protect our consumers,» he said at the signing.
