Midland Cogeneration Venture

The Midland Cogeneration Venture is a natural gas-fired electrical and steam co-generation plant in Midland, Michigan owned by Midland Cogeneration Venture Limited Partnership. When it began operation in 1991, it was the largest gas-fired steam recovery power plant in the world.Originally designed as the Midland Nuclear Power Plant, the initial design called for two Babcock & Wilcox pressurized water reactors. Reactor one was designed with a 460 MWe rating, and reactor two with a 808 MWe rating. The design called for once-through steam generators similar to those at Oconee. Consumers Power abandoned the project, which was 85% complete, in 1984 citing numerous construction problems, most notably a sinking foundation. These problems included sinking and cracking of some buildings on the site due to poor soil compaction prior to construction, as well as shifting regulatory requirements following the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island. Construction was also opposed by environmentalists, led by Midland resident, Mary P. Sinclair.By then, 17 years and US$4.3 billion had been invested in the project. Consumers Power, nearly bankrupted by the project, formed a holding company, CMS Energy for it to be a subsidiary of and eventually changed its name to Consumers Energy.