Schuylkill County May Host First Near Zero Emissions Power Plant, Carbon Storage Project

Future Power PA Inc. announced this week the company’s “Good Spring IGCC” power plant with carbon sequestration will seek matching funds from round three of the Department of Energy’s “Clean Coal Power Initiative”program.

Future Power PA would locate the facility in Good Spring, Schuylkill County.

The grant may accelerate the construction and commissioning of an advanced 270-megawatt Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle electricity plant utilizing local anthracite with carbon dioxide sequestration capabilities.

The power created by this project would serve the PJM West electricity market and meet Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards required in Pennsylvania.

The carbon dioxide would likely be sequestered in locations interconnected by pipelines so future sites and converted incumbent plants may also sequester carbon. The latest engineering and chemistry reports for FPPI indicate the facility will exceed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 standards set for 2020 at start-up.

The technology to utilize coal with such low emission levels results from a global effort of the best resources available from the largest coal-bearing countries in the world. Although the project will be manufactured, constructed, and commissioned in the United States, vital gasification technical expertise from China’s Thermal Power Research Institute has been licensed by FPPI. China Huaneng Power Group is the controlling and majority owner of TPRI and is the largest power utility in China.

“The cooperation between TPRI and FPPI for GreenGen in Tianjin and Good Spring in Pennsylvania is good for IGCC and CCS development in China and the U.S.,” said Mr. Wu, Vice President of China Huaneng Power Group.

The unique location of the project requires almost no fuel transportation or electric power transmission costs commonly associated with such plants. Those savings provide funding for the expensive carbon dioxide sequestration activities as well as profit for investors.

“We believe these projects must be financially viable so private industry can work in tandem with government in a way to make progress without significant burdens on taxpayers and ratepayers. Too many projects are not financially viable and thus unsustainable. We would like to do many similar projects in the United States if this first one is successful,” stated Raj Suri, CEO and President of Future Fuels, the majority shareholder of FPPI.

President of FPPI, Jim Palumbo added, “There is much work to be done. With this project, we will create more than 1,000 jobs to construct the facility followed by hundreds to run the plant. If the funding comes through, we’ll be ready to move that much faster.”

FPPI expects an evaluation and decision by the U.S. Department of Energy in the coming months.

For more information, visit the Future Fuels website.