OREANDA-NEWS. Toyota Tsusho Corporation ("Toyota Tsusho") announced today that it will participate in the construction and operation of the Salem Harbor Power Plant, a capacity of approx. 700MW natural gas-fired power generation project in the City of Salem, Massachusetts, the United States, which is located outside of Boston.  Toyota Tsusho will contribute 12.5% of the equity capital and Highstar Capital IV, a U.S. infrastructure investment fund ("Highstar Capital"), will contribute the remaining 87.5% of equity capital for the plant.  Footprint Power Salem Harbor Holdings LP, the development sponsor for the project ("Footprint Power"), will retain an equity interest in the project and will remain active in its ongoing management.

Salem Harbor Power Plant will be a re-powering project involving the replacement of an aging coal- and oil-fired power generation plant with a new natural gas-fired power generation plant.  Since 2012, Toyota Tsusho has been working with Footprint Power as a development partner for this project.  By switching from coal and oil to natural gas and adopting highly efficient combined cycle power generation, the new plant will reduce the burden on the environment. Plant construction is scheduled to begin in 2015 and completion and the start of commercial operation are slated for 2017. Power generated through the plant will be supplied through North American wholesale electric power market ISO-NE (an independent system operator in New England).  In the U.S., the construction of gas-fired power generation plants are expected to help stem a decline in power output caused by the decommissioning of aging coal-fired and nuclear power plants.  The Salem Harbor Power Plant will support the stable supply of electric power in the New England region as a new, highly efficient power source.

Toyota Tsusho views North America as a major market for its electric power business.  The company is promoting the stable supply of electric power in North America with various project schemes.  The Salem Harbor Power Plant will be the third project for Toyota Tsusho that is selling electricity through deregulated electricity market, following the CPV Shore gas-fired power plant project launched in 2013 and the CPV St. Charles gas-fired power plant project launched in 2014.

Toyota Tsusho will continue to promote environmentally friendly power generation in the market through energy efficient systems by using natural gas and by expanding its renewable energy portfolio.