Briefing on CPV St Charles Energy Center

CPV St Charles Energy Center is a 775 MW natural gas plant in Maryland, demonstrating robust operational performance with a 15% increase in generation over the past six months, while also pursuing critical black start upgrades.

Overview

• Project Name: CPV St. Charles Energy Center Black Start Upgrade (SoMdNews.com, 2022-07-13)

• Developer: Competitive Power Ventures (Power Technology, 2015-05-26)

• EPC Contractor: SNC-Lavalin Group (Power Technology, 2015-05-26)

• Location: Maryland

• Status: Operating, with a project status of "proposed" (SoMdNews.com, 2022-07-13) and latest activity being "groundbreaking" (Power Technology, 2015-05-26)

• Operating Since: 2017

• Latest Milestone: Groundbreaking ceremony in 2014-12 (Power Technology, 2015-05-26)

Fleet Details

• Capacity: 775 MW natural gas plant

• Technology: Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle

• Generators: 3

• Parent Company: CPV Power Holdings

• EIA Operator: CPV Maryland LLC

• Ownership: CPV Maryland LLC

• Grid Interconnection: PJM Interconnection (ISO and BA), RFC (NERC)

• Similar Plants: Ironwood LLC, Woodbridge Energy Center, Pastoria Energy Facility, LLC

• Nearby Plants: Rockfish Solar LLC, Herbert Farm Solar, Brandywine Power Facility

Operational Performance

• Capacity Factor: 69.4%

• Annual Generation: 4718 GWh

• Recent Generation: 502 GWh in 2025-10, 411 GWh in 2025-11, and 341 GWh in 2025-12

• Generation Trend: Up 15% over the past 6 months compared to the prior 6 months

• Commitments: Construction of "CPV St Charles Energy Center, Maryland"

• Constraints: Capacity addition for "St. Charles power plant could receive 'black start' upgrades"

Financial Profile

• Capital Expenditure: $920/kW (eia_agg_cost)

The CPV St. Charles Energy Center is an operational natural gas combined cycle plant with strong recent generation performance, indicating its continued importance to the PJM grid, despite ongoing upgrade considerations.