during construction, Indeck and Kiewit will spend $131.7 million in Southwest Michigan with about $83.7 million of that in the local area.” Huff said that the city will see a modest increase in tax revenue during the construction phase of the plant with more revenue coming in to the city in 2023. That’s especially helpful now during the pandemic. “Even small amounts of revenue are very important during this emergency,” he said. “We are seeing revenue losses that exceed the Great Recession.” Having the Indeck project become a reality will be a boon to everyone in the greater Michiana region, Greater Niles Chamber of Commerce President Jeff Rea said last fall. “We couldn’t be more excited about this project which has been 20 years in the making,” Rea said. “This is the largest single investment we’ve seen anywhere in the region. “Very few communities have been able to attract this scale of a project,” he added. “We hope that success will breed success. This helps put us on the radar screen, and I would like to think that it will lead to other opportunities.”
YOUR QUESTIONS
ANSWERED
On Sept. 4, the Niles Indeck Energy Center broke ground in Niles’ industrial park. The $1 billion, 1.085-gigawatt natural gas power plant is scheduled to begin operating in March 2022. When it does, it will power an average equivalent of 700,000 homes. Below are a series of frequently asked questions regarding the project. Does South Korea own the center? No. According to city documents, two companies based in South Korea partially own Niles Indeck Engery Center. South Korea-based power plant company KOSPO owns half of the center. KOSPO provides nearly all the electricity in its home country, but it has international energy projects that power local areas. South Korea-based Daelim Energy — an engineering, construction and petrochemical company — owns 30 percent of the center. It has other international projects. Indeck Energy Services, of Buffalo Grove, Illinois will own the remaining 20 percent of the center.
INDUSTRY
company’s partnership with two South Korean companies. The South Korean companies, KOSPO and Daelim Energy Company, have invested in the venture and are now the majority investors in the project. This is the first joint power plant project between South Korea and the U.S. For local officials, the Indeck Niles Energy Center project provides a steadying and stabilizing influence on the local economy during the current pandemic. As Huff noted, the construction never shut down even when others were sidelined. “Kiewit (the contractor) has about 200 workers on site now and this number will increase in June as above ground steel work begins,” Huff said. “Workers are living in Niles and nearby towns and this, of course, helps support local economies. Until COVID-19, many of these workers were frequenting local business for supplies, meals and other needs. “We are very hopeful conditions with this emergency will quickly improve so that our local businesses can once again benefit from this substantial workforce,” he added. “It is estimated that
Who will receive the electricity created? Officials stated at Indeck’s groundbreaking ceremony that energy will be directed to the national grid, not to specific people or places. The 700,000 homes the Niles Indeck Energy Center said it can, on average, power are not specific homes, but an equivalent of the amount of energy it can create. What types of emissions will the power plant release? How much? What are the risks? According to a November 2016 air quality permit for Indeck by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (now known as Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy), the following are the estimated yearly emission rates, including startup of the power plant. The estimated rate is compared with a significant emission rate set by the national government. All but lead exceed the significant emission rate. Each pollutant is measured in tons per year. All information on the pollutants and their effects are from the Environmental Protection Agency unless otherwise stated. • Nitrous oxides — This is a group of gases that are highly reactive. Nitrogen dioxide is not specifically mentioned by the air quality permit, but it is known to be common in fossil fuel burning.
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