INDIANA REGULATORS APPROVE DUKE ENERGY CLEAN COAL POWER.The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has granted Duke Energy (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :DUK DUK Duke Energy Corporation (stock symbol) DUK Dead Upon Keyboard ) permission to construct a technologically advanced clean coal power plant in Edwardsport, Ind. If the project proceeds, it will be the first commercial-scale coal gasification Coal gasification The conversion of coal or coal char to gaseous products by reaction with steam, oxygen, air, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, or a mixture of these. power plant built in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. in the last 10 years. The approximately 630-megawatt plant will use advanced integrated gasification gas·i·fy tr. & intr.v. gas·i·fied, gas·i·fy·ing, gas·i·fies To convert into or become gas. gas combined cycle A combined cycle is characteristic of a power producing engine or plant that employs more than one thermodynamic cycle. Heat engines are only able to use a portion of the energy their fuel generates (usually less than 50%). The remaining heat from combustion is generally wasted. (IGCC IGCC Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle IGCC Indo-German Chamber of Commerce IGCC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation IGCC Incentive Gift Certificate Council IGCC Instituto de Gastroenterologia e Cirurgia de Campinas ) technology. "In the Midwest, coal is plentiful and low-cost, and finding ways to burn it cleanly is fundamental to meeting our customers' demand for power," said Duke Energy Indiana President Jim Stanley. "The Edwardsport facility could very well be the cleanest coal-fired power plant in the world once it's completed. It fits Indiana's energy plan to turn homegrown natural resources into an economic engine and be self-reliant for power. It's part of our overall plan to meet growing customer needs with cleaner coal technology, energy efficiency, and renewables." An air permit is still necessary from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. If that permit is approved, Duke Energy could begin construction early next year and start producing power from the site by early 2012. The company has selected its existing power plant site in Edwardsport, Ind., as the location for the new plant. Upon completion of the project, the existing plant -- with coal and oil units built between 1944 and 1951 -- will be retired. The new plant will be able to produce nearly four times as much power as the existing plant at Edwardsport, with much less environmental impact, including 45 percent less carbon dioxide carbon dioxide, chemical compound, CO2, a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is about one and one-half times as dense as air under ordinary conditions of temperature and pressure. emissions per net-megawatt hour. The plant will cost approximately $2 billion to construct. That cost will be offset by more than $460 million in local, state and federal tax incentives. The plant will result in an average electric rate increase of approximately 16 percent phased in from 2008 through 2012. An average of 800 to 900 construction workers over a three-year period, with a peak work force of 2,000, will be needed. Ongoing plant operations would employ approximately 100 people. "We've received tremendous support for the project," Stanley said. "Knox County residents unified to embrace this project and move it forward. The federal, state and local tax incentives help close the gap between the higher costs of building a cleaner coal gasification plant compared to traditional technology." Integrated gasification combined cycle technology uses a coal gasification system to convert coal into a synthesis gas (syngas
Syngas (from synthesis gas) is the name given to a gas mixture that contains varying amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrogen generated by the gasification of a carbon containing fuel to a gaseous product with ). The syngas is processed to remove sulfur, mercury and ash before being sent to a traditional combined cycle power plant, using two combustion turbines and a steam turbine to efficiently produce electricity. The technology could also remove the carbon dioxide from coal during the syngas conversion process to enable it to be stored or sequestered se·ques·ter v. se·ques·tered, se·ques·ter·ing, se·ques·ters v.tr. 1. To cause to withdraw into seclusion. 2. To remove or set apart; segregate. See Synonyms at isolate. 3. in underground geologic formations. Indiana utility regulators also were supportive of Duke Energy studying capture and sequestration sequestration In law, a writ authorizing a law-enforcement official to take into custody the property of a defendant in order to enforce a judgment or to preserve the property until a judgment is rendered. of a portion of the plant's carbon emissions. If the study is successful, carbon dioxide capture and sequestration equipment could be added to the plant. "Coal gasification technology holds tremendous promise to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to address increasing concerns and evidence of global climate change," Stanley said. Duke Energy Indiana's Wabash River Station is the site of the 260-megawatt Wabash River Coal Gasification project, which was one of the first demonstrations of using coal gasification to produce electricity. Duke Energy's Indiana operations provide approximately 7,300 megawatts of safe, reliable and competitively priced electricity to more than 770,000 electric customers, making it the state's largest electric supplier. Duke Energy, one of the largest electric power companies in the United States, supplies and delivers energy to approximately 4 million U.S. customers. The company has approximately 36,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity in the Midwest and the Carolinas, and natural gas distribution services in Ohio and Kentucky. In addition, Duke Energy has more than 4,000 megawatts of electric generation in Latin America, and is a joint- venture partner in a U.S. real estate company. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is a Fortune 500 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. under the symbol DUK. For more information, visit http://www.duke-energy.com or call 317/838-1338. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion