Entergy Louisiana proposes $441 million floating gas plant to enhance resilience against extreme weather events.

Entergy Louisiana plans to build a $441 million floating natural gas power plant in south Louisiana, designed to make the state’s oil and gas infrastructure more resilient to extreme weather. The company claims the project is necessary due to a major transmission line being taken out by Hurricane Zeta in 2020. The proposed 112-megawatt Bayou Power Station could disconnect from the grid and use its power to provide electricity to 7,000 residential, industrial and commercial customers. The power station would have black-start capability, allowing it to rapidly start up and ramp down without being connected to other parts of the energy grid. However, a top Louisiana utility consumer advocate, Logan Atkinson Burke, questioned the timing of the project’s approval compared to the previous company’s 128-MW natural gas plant in New Orleans. If approved by the Louisiana Public Service Commission, the costs would increase to all of Entergy Louisiana’s 1.1 million customers through increased rates and charges.