King coal, III: DOE makes case for FutureGen restructuring

on a global scale. Under this new approach, multiple commercial plants would each produce at least 300 megawatts of electricity and jointly these projects will capture and safely sequester at least double the amount of carbon dioxide annually compared to the concept announced in 2003. To this end, DOE issued a Request for Information (RFI) for industry input and plans to issue a competitive solicitation to provide financial assistance for multiple, commercial-scale CCS demonstrations integrated with market-ready Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) (or other clean technology) coal power plants. The restructured approach will focus on separating carbon dioxide (CO2) for CCS, and does not include hydrogen production, which the concept announced in 2003 included. Hydrogen production for commercial use will remain an important component of the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative and other research initiatives aimed at fundamentally changing the way we power our vehicles.

DOE argues that R&D advancements in IGCC and CCS technology have made FutureGen’s restructured approach possible. This approach will provide more electricity from multiple clean coal plants, at least twice as much CO2 sequestered, a more cost-effective strategy to limit taxpayer exposure to escalating costs, and provide for wider use and more rapid commercialization of CCS technology than the concept announced in 2003. This more focused approach provides an all-around better investment for Americans.

Energy and environmental benefits

—Sequester at least double the amount of CO2 than the concept announced in 2003. Each demonstration plant would sequester CO2 at rate of approximately one million tons per year once operational — nearly enough in compressed liquid form to fill the Empire State Building in New York

—Generate enough electricity per plant to power 400,000 households

—Reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury, and other gases that may be harmful to the environment

—Build on technological R&D advancements that have been made since the concept was announced in 2003, which includes small-scale carbon sequestration projects and IGCC research

—Accelerate timeframe for full-scale commercial operation of the IGCC-CCS plants, enabling market use as soon as the plants are commissioned in the 2015-16 timeframe

Financial benefits:

—Limits taxpayer financial exposure. Under the restructured approach, DOE will join industry in its efforts to build IGCC plants by providing funding for the addition of CCS technology to multiple plants. Under the concept announced in 2003, taxpayers would have funded 74 percent of the total project cost, as well as potentially 74 percent of all cost escalations

—Provides demonstration of IGCC-CCS technology, enabling the FutureGen initiative to test the technology integration and clear hurdles associated with early technology demonstration to allow rapid commercial deployment after 2015

—Leverages the administration’s investment of more than $2.5 billion in clean coal technology since 2001

—Establishes commercial feasibility and formulates a model that industry could use to deploy commercial-scale plants that each sequester at least one million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually