It’s an old-fashioned Florida vs. Texas showdown.
The stakes: Winning the right to build a $160 million project for Duke Energy at its Hines Energy Complex in Bartow, south of Lakeland.
Representing the Sunshine State in the battle is a three-company team considered among the best in their respective fields.
There’s Stellar Energy, a full-service company from Jacksonville, leading the group in the turbine inlet air chilling project. They’re joined by GT ICE, a Ponte Vedra company that’s a global supplier of gas turbine auxiliary systems and filtration products. And a bit further south is Gainesville-based CROM Corp., which specializes in constructing water tanks.
Combined, they’re hoping to secure the rights to supply Duke Energy’s gas turbines with turbine inlet air chilling systems. The upgrades allow for more power generation capacity and efficiency during hot weather. The resulting intake of hot air makes turbines less effective, which the cooling project will help.
Stellar Energy would supply the chiller plants, while GT ICE would modify filter houses that clean and condition the air for the turbines. CROM Corp. would provide thermal storage tanks of up to 17 million gallons.
The only other competition comes from Texas through Houston-based Turbine Air Systems.
It’s not the first time Stellar Energy has gone heads up with the group.
“Oh, absolutely,” said Peter Gibson, Stellar Energy chairman. “It’s a true Florida-Texas deal.”
The group should know within the next couple of weeks whether its bid was selected.
Stephen Rippon, CEO of GT ICE, said he hopes the Florida group has a better than 50 percent shot at securing the work, based on cost and volume. The all-Florida team brings other advantages by using local workers and products that can lead to cost savings.
In addition, Rippon said the proximity of all three companies to the Bartow project could be an appealing factor. With such a large project, there undoubtedly will be challenges that arise. Being local means being more responsive, he said.
Jim Copley, CROM Corp. president and CEO, also is hopeful based on the track records of each company — and the local angle.
“Hopefully us being a Florida team will carry some weight,” Copley said.
It’s the first time the company has worked with the other two, while Stellar Energy and GT ICE have partnered on some projects in the past.
“What we were looking for was a Florida advantage,” Gibson said, when discussing seeking GT ICE and CROM Corp.’s services. “It’s three world-class companies and just a unique situation.”
Like Rippon and Copley, Gibson said from a service perspective, the proximity of being a couple of hours away is something the Texas contingent can’t offer. And by keeping the project all in Florida, the money spent will be kept local.
Still, Gibson said it’s not a given.
“With Duke, we have to be competitive … it’s a leader in its field,” he said. “It required us to go above and beyond … and we feel that we have met that challenge.”
They’ll know within a couple of weeks.
@writerchapman
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