The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority and a private contractor signed a key 313-page agreement Friday advancing the effort to get a state-owned natural gas plant built on the North Slope.
The concession agreement with MWH details a process under which final design and a financing plan will be prepared for the project, which is the centerpiece of the Interior Energy Project, an effort to truck liquefied natural gas to the Fairbanks area.
The plant, expected to cost more than $200 million, would be financed mostly with borrowed money, both public and private, and be built on a new 15-acre gravel pad constructed this summer at Prudhoe Bay.
The state, the contractor and the private utilities are hoping to close on the project by the end of the year if final details can be worked out to assure investors that the project makes financial sense. The state would own the plant, which would be built and operated by a subsidiary of MWH, Northern Lights Energy.
"Under the concession agreement, AIDEA and Northern Lights will move forward with development of the plant and a structure for financing the project using a mixture of AIDEA and private funds," a statement from AIDEA said.
Natural gas would be trucked to Fairbanks in 2016, perhaps a year or so later than originally estimated, if the financial plan comes together.