New Cedar Bayou, Tx, natgas unit enters service

NEW YORK, June 30 (Reuters) - NRG Energy Inc (NRG.N) and Optim Energy said on Tuesday they started commercial operation of the new 550-megawatt Unit 4 at the Cedar Bayou combined cycle natural gas fired power plant in Texas last week.

The unit entered service on June 24 with construction taking less than 24 months.

Optim and NRG each own 50 percent of the new unit. Optim is the energy manager for Unit 4. NRG will operate it.

The 2,048 MW Cedar Bayou station is located in Baytown in Chambers County about 25 miles east of Houston. There are three units at the station, including two 749 MW Units 1 and 2, which entered service in 1970 and 1972, and the 550 MW Unit 4 (2009).

NRG, which owns all of Units 1 and 2, operates the station for its owners.

Optim is a 50:50 joint venture of PNM Resources (PNM.N) and a subsidiary of Bill Gates' Cascade Investment LLC.

One MW powers about 500 homes in Texas.

NRG, of Princeton, New Jersey, owns and operates about 24,000 MW of generating capacity in the United States and markets energy to more than 1.7 million customers located mostly in Texas. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Marguerita Choy)