Entergy Arkansas generation resources

Entergy Arkansas is pleased to provide affordable, efficient and reliable power to industrial, commercial, agricultural and residential customers to meet electricity needs today and for years to come. The company operates an “all-of-the-above” portfolio of generating assets: two nuclear generating units (ANO 1 and 2), four coal-fueled generating units (White Bluff 1 and 2, Independence 1 and 2), three hydroelectric plants (Remmel, Carpenter, Blakely) one large natural gas-fueled steam electric generation station (Lake Catherine Unit 4), three combined-cycle gas turbine generating facilities (Union Power Station, Hot Spring, Ouachita), and one solar facility (Searcy Solar). In addition, Entergy Arkansas purchases capacity and associated energy from the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station in Mississippi, has executed two Arkansas Public Service Commission (APSC)-approved PPAs with Stuttgart Solar and Chicot Solar, and has APSC approval to add two new large renewable PPAs (Flat Fork and Forgeview Solar) to its portfolio. Further, Entergy Arkansas will soon own and operate three new large solar facilities (Walnut Bend, West Memphis and Driver Solar).

Several of the company’s legacy generating assets will cease operations (or, for the coal units, cease to burn coal) over the coming decade. The first to cease operations will be Lake Catherine Unit 4 (LC4), a natural gas unit that will shut down at the end of 2027 after more than 50 years of operation on the eastern shore of Lake Catherine.

Entergy Arkansas is proactively planning to replace these generating assets with modern technology that continues to meet the needs of its customers and enables Entergy Arkansas to maintain an “all-of-the-above” generation portfolio. The proposed Lake Catherine Unit 5 (LC5) will fill the need created by the retirement of LC4, bolstering the company’s reliability efforts and supporting anticipated load growth across Entergy Arkansas’ service territory. As proposed, LC5 will create flexibility and optionality for Entergy Arkansas once it begins operations in 2028.

Proposed natural gas generation station

LC5 is a proposed natural gas-fired combustion turbine (CT) unit in a simple cycle configuration that is anticipated to produce 446 megawatts of electricity and will replace the legacy, gas-fired 522-megawatt LC4 facility that entered service in 1970. LC5 will be capable of co-firing 30% hydrogen as fuel, and the unit is designed to potentially enable conversion to hydrogen as an exclusive fuel source. To that end, LC5 has been designed and will be constructed in a way that supports customers’ sustainability goals and Entergy Arkansas’ path toward decarbonization. LC5 will be designed as a flexible resource, capable of rapid starts and load changes in response to system needs. Modern emissions control systems will be installed in the unit, which has a lower emissions profile than LC4 even without hydrogen co-firing.

Economic impact

Lake Catherine 5 is expected to provide somewhere between 230 and 260 jobs during the peak of the construction phase. Entergy Arkansas anticipates sourcing these workers and vendors locally where practicable.

During the operational life of the resource, Entergy Arkansas expects to employ at least nine full-time employees to operate the facility and outside services for project site maintenance like land management and vegetation control, which is expected to have a local impact. Local businesses such as restaurants, stores and hotels could also benefit indirectly from the infusion of construction workers and activity during the construction portion of the project. Entergy Arkansas will also continue to support the local community through the payment of property taxes as well as through financial contributions to local nonprofit organizations as well as Entergy Arkansas employees’ volunteer hours.

Proposed location

Entergy Arkansas anticipates utilizing an approximate 20-acre area of its existing Lake Catherine Power Generation property, located in the Jones Mills area off U.S. Highway 270, to construct the project. The final footprint of the proposed LC5 project is expected to be approximately 10 acres and has been configured to avoid impacts to natural and human resources as well as other obstacles or constraints. This land was previously utilized by the facility for fuel oil storage.