Gemma Power Systems Achieves Substantial Completion for Two Pennsylvania Power Facilities

By Anca Gagiuc, Associate Editor

Panda Liberty

Pittsburgh—Gemma Power Systems has achieved substantial completion for the Panda Liberty and Panda Patriot combined cycle power projects in Pennsylvania. Substantial completion means the facility has been turned over to the owner for commercial operation.

The two projects are located in Bradford County and Lycoming County, Pa., and are the first to be designed and sited specifically to capitalize on the Marcellus Shale natural gas formation in Pennsylvania. Both are 829 MW natural gas-fired combined cycle generating facilities consisting of two 400 MW single-shaft power trains that will provide clean, reliable electric power to more than 2 million homes.

Panda Liberty achieved substantial completion on April 30 this year and Panda Patriot on June 14. Gemma Power Systems was the engineering-procurement-construction contractor for the projects through a joint venture with the Lane Construction Corp. Power Engineers provided engineering and detailed design services for the projects.

Panda Patriot

“I want to recognize and thank all of the dedicated and creative men and women of Gemma Power Systems and Lane Construction who worked tirelessly on these complex projects and delivered a world class project to Panda Power Funds,” said William Griffin, Jr., GPS, CEO.

“We also congratulate Panda Power Funds on adding two clean, highly efficient power projects to their growing portfolio,” Griffin said. “We appreciate the opportunity Panda gave us to again demonstrate our capabilities as we answer the challenge of building complex energy projects,” he added.

The facilities use Siemens’ H-class turbines in single shaft configuration, which is the world’s first generation technology to achieve operating efficiencies of 60 percent. Moreover, the facilities are cooled with air rather than water, thus not drawing water from, or discharging water into the Susquehanna River, eliminating potential impacts to sensitive species in the watershed.

Images courtesy of Gemma Power Systems