CPV Woodbridge Energy Center
Project Quick Facts
Location: Woodbridge Township, New Jersey
System Information: 2×1 Combined-Cycle Power Plant Featuring Two GE Fast-Start 7F 5-Series Gas Turbines and a D-11A Steam Turbine with Associated Generators
Total Installed Capacity: 725 MW
In Operation Since: January 2016
700,000
Homes Powered
122,550
Tons of Carbon Avoided
1.4 Million
Cars Off the Road
Based on annual generation
Project Overview
CPV Woodbridge Energy Center is a 725-megawatt natural gas-fueled combined-cycle power generation facility located in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. CPV Woodbridge generates enough electricity to power more than 700,000 homes, helping New Jersey to safely meet its demand for energy with reliable, cost-effective, and environmentally responsible low-emissions generation.
The facility utilizes advanced generation technology from General Electric (GE), making it one of the nation’s cleanest and most efficient power generation facilities. Given its efficiency, CPV Woodbridge reduces New Jersey’s dependence on older power-generating facilities, improving the state’s environmental profile, and equipping the grid with electricity generated with fewer emissions and externalities.
CPV Woodbridge is located on a former Brownfield Development Area. Remediation and reuse of the long-abandoned chemical plant is part of a New Jersey initiative to clean up contaminated properties while bringing jobs back to municipalities for economic development.
Community Benefits
- Provides a long-term source of revenue for the local community, including school district support, lowering tax burdens, and funding for infrastructure maintenance.
- Employed 600 skilled workers during construction and 22 permanent employees since in operation.
- The estimated $900 million project has brought significant economic benefits to local businesses.
- Supports STEM education in the schools through a grant enabling Project Lead the Way (PLTW) to implement two modules on Energy and Environment.
- Supports Friday’s Friends program at Colonia Middle School through a $50,000 grant over ten years.
- Saves New Jersey ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually in lower congestion costs through relocation of generation to power supply.
Environmental Benefits
- As part of the remediation and reuse plan, this long-abandoned site has been cleaned up for the first time in over a hundred years. The public was granted access to the Raritan River, a highly desirable public benefit that does not currently exist in Woodbridge.
- Visit Great Ecology’s website for more information on the development of Woodbridge Water Park.
- Offers 30 percent more efficiency through combined-cycle generation facility design. This means they require less fuel to produce the same amount of electricity, leading to lower costs and reduced emissions—benefits for both the environment and the economy.
- Repurposes grey water from Middlesex County Utilities Authority (MCUA) water treatment facility that would otherwise go into the Raritan River.
Project Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
The CPV Woodbridge Energy Center (CPV Woodbridge) is a highly efficient, 725-MW combined-cycle gas power generation facility that began operations in January 2016. The power plant is located on Riverside Drive in the Township of Woodbridge on the site of an abandoned chemical plant that is in a Brownfields Development Area (BDA). This facility is helping meet the growing energy needs of New Jersey, while enhancing the reliability of the state’s electric infrastructure.
A combined-cycle electric generator like CPV Woodbridge is a highly efficient assembly of combustion turbines that drive electric generators where the hot exhaust from the combustion turbines is used to generate additional electricity via a steam turbine. State-of-the-art gas-fired combined cycle electric generators like CPV Woodbridge are highly efficient. The power that generators like this one produce typically displaces that of older, less efficient power plants, and helps improve our environment.
This site provides an optimal combination of factors that are important in deciding where best to locate a power plant. CPV Woodbridge is situated on a Brownfields Development Area (BDA) that is ideal for remediation and reuse, which is consistent with both the Township’s and the state’s desire to redevelop the area and create jobs. The industrial nature of the area is also such that it will not impact residential neighborhoods. Furthermore, the site is close to natural gas lines that fuel CPV Woodbridge and transmission lines that transmit the electricity our facility produces to area homes and businesses.
CPV Woodbridge is a 725 MW-facility, which generates enough electricity for more than 700,000 homes. CPV Woodbridge occupies about 26 acres, with structures as tall as 145 feet high.
CPV Woodbridge is one of the largest taxpayers in Woodbridge Township with substantial revenue that can be used to support the Township’s growth and development plans as well as to help stabilize taxes for residents.
CPV Woodbridge is gas-fired power generation facility that uses the best available control technology to minimize emissions. CPV Woodbridge is highly efficient and thus helps displace older, less efficient power facilities in the region. Because these less efficient facilities are typically older and were built when emissions mandates were less stringent, CPV Woodbridge is improving air quality.
CPV Woodbridge meets all local and state noise quality standards. It is in an industrial area that is approximately 1/2 mile away from the closest area residents and is heavily buffered by roads and highways.
CPV Woodbridge is designed to conserve water and protect natural resources. As part of our commitment to the environment, we use primarily recycled or “grey” water from the nearby Middlesex County Utilities Authority. For this purpose, we built a direct waterline from the Authority to the facility and we are now a major customer of the Authority. A small amount of municipal make-up water is used to replenish water that is lost in the power production process.
Natural gas for CPV Woodbridge comes from existing gas pipelines located a short distance from the project property. As part of construction, CPV Woodbridge constructed connections to these pipelines that were permitted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
Yes, CPV Woodbridge utilizes a proven technology used throughout North America and the world to generate electricity without incident. Safety is a top corporate priority for all CPV facilities. The design, construction and operation of equipment and systems for CPV Woodbridge are in accordance with all local and state regulations and include state-of-the-art fire detection, alarm, suppression, and control systems. The local fire department was involved in developing the emergency response plan.
At peak construction, there were approximately 600 workers onsite. CPV Woodbridge employs approximately 20 full-time positions now that the plant is operational. The facility also employs approximately 75 contractors to help maintain equipment and buildings.
CPV Woodbridge took approximately 30 months to construct and achieved commercial operation in January 2016
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