North Bergen Liberty Generating LLC officials recently described the utility’s plan for a 1,200 megawatt natural gas-fired electric generating facility in the township.
Representatives of the subsidiary of Diamond Generating Corp. and township Mayor Nick Sacco explained how the project would work.
“Our facility would be among the cleanest, most efficient power plants in the region,” NBLG Vice President of Development David Deutsch said in a prepared statement. “Our project would provide close to a thousand construction jobs, millions in new tax revenue for New Jersey and North Bergen, and safe, reliable power for the region.”
The $1.8 billion project would be located on 15 acres in an industrial section of North Bergen, near existing energy and utility infrastructure, the company said. It would use natural gas and combustion turbine technology to produce electricity equivalent to that needed to power 1.2 million homes.
It would connect to New York City via an underground and underwater cable crossing the Hudson River.
“This project represents a once-in-a-generation chance to add a major new source of tax revenue to North Bergen with no impact on residential neighborhoods and little to no strain on municipal services,” Sacco said in a statement. “I’m proud that NBLG has chosen to locate this project here, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with them to make this vision into a reality.”
If approved, and with no significant delays, construction could begin by the end of 2019, and the plant could be operational by the end of 2022.
