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Power plant would produce green energy
A developer wants to build an $800 million “green energy park” south of Leesburg that would produce power in an environmentally sensitive way.Loudoun-based Green Energy Partners is proposing that its green energy park would use treated wastewater from the Town of Leesburg, and natural gas and solar energy to heat and cool several million square feet of data centers and other commercial space in the county.
The company's managing partner is former Loudoun County School Board member John Andrews, who ran for state Senate in 2007.
“We are proposing a clean and safe alternative to coal and nuclear power at a time when the nation is looking for clean energy alternatives,” Andrews said in a statement.
The site of the park would be just north of the Dulles Greenway and east of Sycolin Road. The company also wants to build an office park on this 300-acre parcel, according to documents filed with the county. The name of the commercial development would be Stonewall Secure Business Park.
Company spokesman Charlie Jackson said the energy park would power the business park's buildings. Additional energy, he said, could be sold for use by other developments in Loudoun and Fairfax counties.
The site already contains transmission lines and two natural gas lines. If approved by county leaders, the company would add a 600-megawatt, combined-cycle natural gas facility with a wastewater, steam-turbine generator, two 150-megawatt clean natural gas turbines and a 1-megawatt solar array.
The facility would use up to 5 million gallons of wastewater a day as a cooling agent, preventing 2 billion gallons of wastewater from entering the Potomac River annually, the company said.
“At a time when the local, state, national and international economies are suffering, and tax bills and energy costs are rising, the world is focused on green-energy alternatives,” Andrews said. “This project will serve as an energy resource and economic catalyst to Loudoun County.”
The company is seeking a memorandum of agreement with the Town of Leesburg to purchase wastewater. It's also requesting a special exception and a commission permit from the county to construct its green energy park. It has already applied for rezoning to build the office park.
Contact the reporter at jjacks@timespapers.com
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