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President's Clean Coal Initiative
Attracts "Second Wave" of
Technologies
$6 Billion in
Proposals; Major Focus on Coal Gasification
Washington, DC - The Department of
Energy (DOE) today announced it has
received proposals for projects in
a new generation of clean coal projects,
valued at nearly $6 billion, in the
latest phase of the President's Clean
Coal Power Initiative (CCPI).
"Industry has
enthusiastically responded to the
Department's latest clean coal solicitation
calling for technologies that would
help make it possible for coal to
remain a cornerstone of our domestic
energy portfolio, particularly for
power generation, and to continue
that role into the long-term future,"
Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham
said today.
"We are pleased
these latest proposals encompass an
advanced generation of technologies
that will help us meet national priorities
set forth by President Bush in his
Clear Skies and Global Climate Change
objectives," Abraham said.
The Round 2 proposals
represent the second wave of technologies
offered by industry in response to
President Bush's pledge to invest
up to $2 billion in federal funding
over 10 years to advance technologies
that can help meet the nation's growing
demand for electricity while simultaneously
providing a secure and low-cost energy
source and protecting the environment.
In January 2003, eight projects were
selected in Round One, the initial
phase of the CCPI.
These newest proposals
request about $1 billion in federal
cost sharing for projects. Those eventually
selected will demonstrate: (1) coal
gasification system advances that
enhance efficiency, environmental
performance and reliability, and (2)
advancements that support the President's
Clear Skies Initiative to reduce power
plant emissions, particularly mercury,
by about 70 percent by 2018, and the
Global Climate Change Initiative to
reduce carbon emissions growth over
the next ten years.
The projects will
also support the technical foundation
for the FutureGen Initiative to create
the world's first zero-emissions,
coal-based power and hydrogen production
plant, which will include carbon dioxide
removal and sequestration.
Ninety-seven percent
of the value of the proposals offer
advancements for power generation
based on commercial demonstrations
of gasification technology and improvements
to efficiency, reliability, availability,
environmental performance, and economic
performance. These proposals also
present opportunities to demonstrate
potential readiness of energy technologies
for carbon dioxide management.
Other proposals offer
approaches for mercury and multi-pollutant
control and for efficiency improvements
that encompass coal treatment methods
and post-combustion technologies,
as well as integrated combustion and
control system advancements applicable
to needs of the existing fleet and
future energy plants. These environmental
technologies have potential applicability
to diverse sizes of coal combustion
operations.
DOE will review each
proposal received under the CCPI Round
2 solicitation against criteria established
in the solicitation as prerequisites
for detailed evaluation. Those prerequisites
include the proposer's plan to share
at least 50 percent of the total allowable
cost of the proposed project, commitment
to repayment of the government's investment
in the demonstration project, and
other aspects of the proposed project,
including project site, coal use,
and electricity production. Qualifying
proposals will be subject to detailed
evaluation, and DOE anticipates announcement
of selections by the end of 2004.
The public abstracts
for the CCPI Round 2 proposers are
listed below.
- Peabody Energy,
the world's largest coal company,
in a team with Airborne Clean Energy,
Veolia Water North America, and
Icon Construction, proposes a commercial-scale
demonstration of the Airborne Process
scrubber, regeneration system, and
fertilizer production systems at
the Mustang Energy Company, LLC's
300 megawatt coal-fired Mustang
Generating Station in Milan, New
Mexico. This $78.864 million project,
for which Peabody is requesting
$19.5 million (or nearly 25 percent
of the total cost estimated cost),
would target an innovative and cost-competitive
multi-pollutant control process
for achieving 99.5 percent removal
of sulfur dioxide (SO2), 98 percent
removal of SO3 (sulfuric acid mist
precursor), 98 percent removal of
nitrogen oxides (NOx), and 90 percent
total system removal of mercury
from plant emissions, while turning
the byproducts into a high-quality
high-value granular fertilizer.
The Peabody team has established
aggressive technology objectives
for (1) demonstrating commercial
applicability of the Airborne Process
to the existing coal-fired fleet
as well as to new plants and (2)
demonstrating an availability of
96 percent or better for the Airborne
process during the first year of
operation.
- The Alaska Cowboy
Coal Power Consortium, in a teaming
arrangement with Fuels Management,
Inc., and KAPP, LLC, proposes to
build and operate a commercial plant
in Anchorage, Alaska, for innovative
low-temperature drying of low rank
coal typically containing 20 to
30 percent water, to generate a
coal product for marketing and use
in an existing, re-powered coal-fired
power plant. The proposed technology,
if successful, could be applied
to high moisture content coals of
the Beluga coal field in Alaska
and low-rank coals currently produced
in the western United States. The
upgraded coal produced by the drying
process would result in reduced
costs for transportation and shipping
coal to utility and other markets,
and use of the dried coal would
avoid reductions in combustion and
boiler efficiency that normally
result from its use. Smaller-scale
tests of the low-temperature drying
technology were reported to show
significant removal of mercury;
coal produced by the drying technology
would be extensively tested in the
re-powered power plant to quantify
the effects on environmental emissions,
boiler efficiency, reliability,
and utility plant operations. The
applicant requested $16.56 million,
or nearly 45 percent of the total
estimated cost of $37.4 million,
to support the project.
- Basin Electric
Power Cooperative requested $140
million (18.5 percent of the total
cost) to support a $756.2 million
project for repowering the 615 megawatt
Leland Olds Unit 2 boiler in Stanton,
ND, with the world's first Hybrid
Gasification Combined Cycle plant.
The Hybrid Gasification system would
use a pressurized gasifier to produce
syngas from lignite for combustion
in a gas turbine combined cycle
coupled with an atmospheric-pressure
circulating fluidized bed boiler
to burn unconverted carbon in char
and ash residue from the gasifier
to produce steam for use in a steam
turbine, while recovering exhaust
heat from the gas turbine. The proposed
system would reduce the quantity
of coal needed to generate each
kilowatt of electricity and result
in an efficient and exceptionally
clean coal-fueled combined cycle.
The Hybrid Gasification system could
reduce the cost of gasification
technology through use of lower
temperatures and less severe gasifier
design requirements, thus resulting
in both higher component reliability
and lower capital cost. The proposed
system potentially offers a new
way of making electricity focused
on low rank and sub-bituminous coals
that would be superior for both
repowering existing units and new
lignite-burning units.
- Breen Energy Solutions
proposed a $27 million project for
commercial demonstration of Near-Zero
Multi-Pollutant Emissions Technology
for Simultaneous NOx, CO and Mercury
Reduction. The proposed project
would integrate coal/biomass slurry
utilization and reburn technologies
for NOx reduction, mercury oxidation
through flue gas temperature control,
low temperature NOx and CO reduction,
mercury chloride formation and stabilization,
and dry mercury adsorption for mercury
retention into a multi-pollutant
control system that would be applicable
to new and existing plants. The
proposal addresses DOE performance
targets for mercury removal and
nitrogen oxide emissions by seeking
to demonstrate an integrated system
to achieve 90 percent mercury removal,
NOx emissions of 0.05 lb/MMBtu,
and attainment of near-zero CO emissions.
The proposed technologies would
demonstrate a unique capability
to simultaneously deliver near-zero
emissions at a considerably lower
cost than commercial technologies.
DOE was requested to provide $13
million (50 percent cost-share)
to support the proposed project.
- ClearStack Combustion
Corporation, with a team including
Ameren Energy Generating (AEG) Company,
the Illinois Department of Commerce,
and the Electric Power Research
Institute, proposes to retrofit
AEG's 80 megawatt Hutsonville power
generation Unit #4 (Boiler #6) in
Hutsonville, IL, with advanced technology
to demonstrate multi-pollutant reduction
at a cost lower than currently available
technologies. In a proposed $13.1
million project, including $6.56
(50 percent) from DOE and $5 million
from the State of Illinois, ClearStack
Combustion Corporation would demonstrate
the commercial potential of a three-stage
pulverized coal molten slag bath
gasification/combustion technique
(the patented Ashworth Combustor™)
that reduces the major air pollutants
(nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide,
mercury, other metal air toxics
and particulate) associated with
coal combustion. This project would
potentially provide the electric
utility industry with a low cost
solution to reduce emissions of
multiple pollutants from smaller
coal-fired units (200 MWe and less).
- EnviRes LLC proposed
a radically different and potentially
lower cost approach to coal gasification
that would be commercially demonstrated
in a new gasification plant to be
constructed in East St. Louis, Illinois.
The proposed plant would use EnviRes
Gasification Technology to gasify
1,039 tons per day of Illinois #6
coal for producing separate hydrogen-rich
and carbon monoxide-rich streams.
The carbon monoxide stream would
be used as fuel for a combustion
turbine in a combined cycle generating
system producing 113 megawatts of
electrical power, and the hydrogen
would be available for use in fuel
cells for both stationary power
generation and powering personal
transportation vehicles. EnviRes
proposed a total cost of $254.2
million for the project, with 50
percent (or $127.1 million) of the
cost to be provided by DOE.
- Excelsior Energy
Inc., in a team effort with ConocoPhillips,
requests $150 million in DOE funds
for partial support of a $1.185
billion project to construct and
operate the 531 megawatt Mesaba
Energy Project in Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota.
DOE's contribution of nearly 13
percent of the funds would be used
to demonstrate next generation Integrated
Gasification Combined Cycle power
plants, which would build upon performance
of the Wabash River Coal Gasification
Repowering Project in Terre Haute,
Indiana, which was constructed under
the Department of Energy's Clean
Coal Technology Program and has
been operating since 1995. The Mesaba
Project would apply approaches identified
for upgrading performance of Wabash
Plant technology and lessons learned
from operations at Wabash. Excelsior
expects the Mesaba Project to achieve
15 percent improvement in gasification
plant availability and improved
thermal efficiency at lower installed
costs. Excelsior also forecasts
that the performance, efficiency,
and emission improvements to be
demonstrated through the Mesaba
Project would make the proposed
plant the cleanest coal fueled power
plant in the world.
- FuelCell Energy,
Inc., proposes to design, build
and test a 14 megawatt Direct FuelCell®/Turbine
Hybrid Power Plant operating on
coal-derived gas. In a team effort
with Eastman Chemical Company and
Solar Turbines, Inc., FuelCell Energy
would integrate a Direct FuelCell®/Turbine
Hybrid Power Plant system into an
existing coal gasification facility
operated by Eastman Chemical Company
at Kingsport, Tennessee. The coal
gasifier supporting the demonstration
project would be operated in an
oxygen-blown mode. FuelCell Energy
projects that the combined technologies
could result in electricity generation
from coal on a commercial scale
(e.g., 200 megawatt plant) at an
efficiency approaching 60 percent
(HHV basis) with over 90 percent
CO2 separation from the coal gas
and very low emissions. This efficiency
level is projected by FuelCell Energy
to be 14-16 points higher than the
efficiency achievable with an integrated
gasification combined cycle power
plant alone. DOE was requested to
provide 50 percent of the funds
(about $26.64 million) to support
this $53.28 million project.
- Medicine Bow Fuel
& Power LLC proposes to develop,
finance, construct, and operate
the Medicine Bow Energy Project,
a mine-mouth coal gasification and
liquefaction facility that would
demonstrate integration of technologies
for producing 1000 megawatts of
electric power and 26,200 barrels
per day of ultra-clean diesel fuel
and naphtha using an estimated 6
million tons of coal per year. The
facility would be located at a site
near Medicine Bow, Wyoming. The
proposed plant would recover virtually
all of the carbon dioxide produced
for eventual marketing by third
parties as an aid for enhanced oil
recovery, where the carbon dioxide
could also be effectively sequestered.
Diesel fuel produced by the facility
would contain sulfur levels below
EPA's sulfur specification for diesel
fuel, beginning in 2006. Electric
power would be produced by gas turbines
in combined cycle mode from the
synthetic gas and liquefaction process
gases. Coal for the project would
be mined from reserves located adjacent
to the facility, for which initial
permitting and a federal draft environmental
impact statement have been completed.
The Medicine Bow Energy Project
would be the first commercial scale
plant in the U.S. to produce electric
power and coal liquids at competitive
prices. The total estimated cost
of the project is $2.759 billion,
of which $200 million (or just over
7 percent of the total cost) has
been requested from DOE.
- Minnesota Power
has requested $50 million in DOE
funds to support a $120 million
project for demonstrating the commercial
viability of an industrial-scale
fuel gas production and integrated
gasification combined cycle cogeneration
facility to be constructed in St.
Louis County, Minnesota. The gasification
system would convert sub-bituminous
Powder River Basin coal to synthetic
gas for two uses - as a low-cost
replacement fuel for natural gas
currently used as a source of heat
in taconite processing and as a
fuel source for a combined cycle
combustion turbine to provide 60
megawatts of electricity. In addition,
efficiency improvements would be
integrated into the gasification/cogeneration
system to recover low-grade waste
heat for use in improving taconite
grinding efficiency and thereby
lowering electrical energy usage.
- NeuCo, Inc., proposes
to demonstrate coal-fired utility
plant process controls that address
combustion, boiler, and post-combustion
emissions control facilities as
an integrated system for significantly
enhancing multi-pollutant and mercury
emissions environmental control
for existing and new plants. NeuCo
is requesting about $6.3 million
as part of a $12.6 million project
to (1) add closed-loop optimization
modules for flue gas desulfurization
systems and electrostatic precipitators;
(2) optimize these and other combustion
and post-combustion systems as a
single integrated system for currently
regulated emissions and mercury
removal; and (3) demonstrate performance
of process control products that
maximize reliability and availability.
The proposed project at the Baldwin
Energy Complex in Baldwin, Illinois,
would demonstrate use of advanced
data validation and optimization
techniques and mathematical modeling
for individual closed-loop sub-systems
and for the interdependencies of
those sub-systems, which would enhance
overall plant performance for achieving
aggressive sulfur dioxide, nitrogen
oxide, mercury, and particulate
matter emissions reduction goals.
- Pegasus Technologies,
Inc., in a joint effort with Texas
Genco, proposes to demonstrate the
ability to affect and optimize mercury
speciation and multi-pollutant control
on an existing 890 megawatt utility
boiler at Jewett, Texas, using non-intrusive
advanced sensor and optimization
technologies. This demonstration
of plant-wide advanced control and
optimization systems could potentially
minimize emissions while maximizing
the efficiency of the plant as an
electricity producer. Pegasus would
apply advanced solutions using state
of the art sensors and neural network
based optimization and control technologies
to maximize the oxidation or capture
of mercury vapor in the boiler flue
gas. Artificial intelligence and
simulation technologies would be
used to control and optimize all
the major facets of a power plant
using a blend of Texas lignite and
Powder River Basin sub-bituminous
coal, a cold-side Electrostatic
Precipitator rated at approximately
99.8 percent particulate removal
efficiency, and a wet limestone
Flue Gas Desulfurization system
rated at approximately 90 percent
SO2 removal efficiency. Both of
the devices would potentially be
capable of removing mercury from
the unit's flue gas. Pegasus has
requested $6.08 million in DOE funds
to conduct this $12.16 million project.
- Southern Company
Services, in a team effort with
Southern Power Company, Orlando
Utilities Commission, and Kellogg
Brown and Root, proposes to construct
and demonstrate operation of a 285
megawatt coal-based transport gasifier
plant in Orange County, Florida.
The proposed plant would gasify
sub-bituminous coal, use state-of
the-art emission controls, and be
expected to provide one of the cleanest,
most efficient coal-fired power
plants in the world. Southern Company
plans to demonstrate use of an air-blown
integrated gasification combined
cycle power plant based on the transport
gasifier, which employs Kellogg
Brown and Root's catalytic cracking
technology that has been used successfully
for over 50 years in the petroleum
refining industry. Southern Company
estimated the total cost for the
project at $557 million and has
requested $235 million of DOE funds
to support the project.
-End of Techline-
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