Giant Panda Power plants in Temple

TEMPLE – Panda Power has secured $372 million to build a second natural gas-fueled power plant that will contribute to a $3.2 billion boost in the Temple area economy over the next decade.

The 758-megawatt combined-cycle plant will be adjacent to a similar facility under construction off Lorraine Dr. in Synergy Industrial Park in southeast Temple.

The plants will produce enough power to supply 1.5 million homes in Central and North Texas when complete by mid-2015. The first phase should be online by summer 2014, Panda spokesman Bill Pentak said.

Each plant will contribute $1.6 billion to the area — primarily due to an enlarged tax base — during the first ten years of operation, according to a study by Impact Data Source of Austin.

Panda Power Funds has issued $372 million of secured debt on Temple II and $340 million on the project’s first phase, according to Standard & Poor’s Rating Service.

Each power plant will create 700 to 800 jobs at peak construction. Thirty-five employees will operate the facilities, and 90 jobs will be created within the community to support the plants, according to the company.

They also will be among the cleanest power plants in the U.S., with advanced emissions-control technology that will contain carbon monoxide emission to less than ten parts-per-million and nitrogen oxide to less than two parts-per-million,

All area taxing entities have granted the project ten-year, 50 percent tax abatements. The company has a similar 758-megawatt plant under construction in Sherman.

Read more at the Temple Daily Telegram.