LandusemapJamestown (CSi) Officials with Great River Energy report, that a full staff has been hired at Spiritwood Station for the coal-fired generating plant, and preparations are on-going for startup later this summer.

Officials don’t see new draft rules concerning carbon emissions from coal-fired generating plants as an obstacle to starting operations at Spiritwood Station this fall.

GRE Vice President and General Counsel, Eric Olsen, said,”We will be going online on November 1st.”

He adds that The draft rules by the Environmental Protection Agency require states to implement guidelines to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide by 2030. The proposed rules are currently in a 120-day comment period.

He says the rules, have “No effect on the Spiritwood Station.”

Plant construction began in 2006 and was completed in 2011.

Spiritwood Station is a combined heat and power facility that will generate up to 99 megawatts of electricity and supply steam heat to the Cargill Malt plant and Dakota Spirit AgEnergy ethanol plant now under construction at Spiritwood.

The ethanol plant is slated to begin operations during the first quarter of 2015.