Project Overview

In February 2009, Loudoun County-based Green Energy Partners announced plans to build an environmentally friendly, clean and renewable green energy-generating facility that will launch Loudoun County towards becoming energy independent.

In April 2010, Green Energy Partners won a unanimous approval from Loudoun County government to build the approximately $800 million hybrid energy facility that would use effluent water from the Town of Leesburg sewage treatment plant in a natural gas fired power plant plus what would be Virginia’s largest photovoltaic solar array to provide the region with a green energy alternative.

The project has been hailed by Loudoun County’s Energy Manager, Najib Salehi, in The Washington Post as a “very good proposal” that will work to save the county energy dollars in the future. This facility will allow Loudoun County to chart its own energy future and generate up significant annual tax revenue.

At present, more than 90 percent of Virginia’s energy comes from burning coal or oil and from nuclear energy facilities. Currently, Loudoun County imports 100 percent of its energy, relying on other jurisdictions and energy companies to make decisions that ultimately impact the air Loudoun County citizens breathe and the unsightly power lines that traverse the county.

The proposed site is unique. It is adjacent to similar industrial uses at Leesburg Airport, Loudoun Water and Luck Stone Quarry. The site contains two existing natural gas lines, access to the existing electrical transmission grid and is located near water resources needed to operate the facility. Green Energy Partners will be seeking a memorandum of agreement with the Town of Leesburg to purchase effluent waste water that the Town currently discharges into the Potomac River. Additional water may be supplied by Loudoun Water from nearby reservoirs. 

The project will provide a green energy source, fulfilling the region’s needs for new energy. Specifically, Green Energy Partners is proposing a 981 (nominal) megawatt facility, including a 586 megawatt combined cycle gas turbine plant, two 197 megawatt simple cycle peaking power gas turbines, and what would be Virginia’s largest solar array. The hybrid facility will use up to 5 million gallons per day of waste water effluent for cooling water. This will eliminate up to approximately 2 billion gallons of effluent per year from being discharged into the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. For years, Chesapeake Bay supporters have been working to decrease the amount of effluent that is pumped into the Bay and its tributaries as that practice puts undesirable nitrates and phosphates into our waterways.

With approvals from local, state and federal officials, the proposed power plant will be one of the cleanest facilities of its kind in the United States and will allow Loudoun County to use power generated within its borders for the first time since the county’s inception in 1757.

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