South Korea Moves to Advance $22.3 Billion, 6.3GW Gas Power Plant Investment in Texas

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 7, South Korea is pushing to include the Encinal gas-fired power generation project in Texas, U.S., within the framework of a $350 billion Korea-U.S. strategic investment initiative. The project currently under discussion involves an investment of approximately $22.3 billion, located in Encinal, La Salle County, southern Texas, with a planned total installed capacity of about 6.3GW. U.S. energy company Lewis Energy Group is participating in the project's development.

The project is planned to be built in six phases. Under the current plan, the first phase involves constructing approximately 1.3GW of simple-cycle gas-fired power generation facilities, with phases two through six each adding about 1GW of combined-cycle units, bringing the total installed capacity to approximately 6.3GW upon full completion. An alternative plan lists the first-phase capacity at approximately 1.4GW, with subsequent combined-cycle units totaling about 4.9GW.

The project's investment scale has undergone adjustments. A candidate plan disclosed in late August involved an investment of approximately $16.8 billion, which was later raised to about $20 billion, with the latest discussion on September 7 reaching approximately $22.3 billion. The U.S. side had previously also proposed an investment plan of around $25 billion, after which both Korea and the U.S. continued negotiations on the project's investment terms.

The project's power sales plans include supplying electricity to Texas' ERCOT power market and providing direct power to surrounding artificial intelligence data centers. The developer is simultaneously studying long-term power purchase agreements and direct supply arrangements. Lewis Energy Group holds natural gas resources and pipeline infrastructure in the local area.

Discussions on the Korean side on September 7 also covered the operating agreement for the project's special purpose entity, I-SPV. The two sides had previously been in ongoing consultations regarding the ownership, equity, and voting rights arrangements of the specific project SPV.

As of September 7, the South Korean government had not officially confirmed the $22.3 billion investment plan. South Korea's industrial ministry stated that day that it was currently unable to confirm the specific progress of the related investment plan in the U.S.