USA: TXU to use cleaner-burning coal method after all

by TOM FOWLER

TXU says it plans to build two coal-fired power plants in Texas using a cleaner-burning technology the company previously tried to discredit.

In an announcement Friday, TXU and the two investors behind the proposed $45 billion buyout of the company announced last month said they will issue a request for proposals from companies offering coal gasification technologies, often referred to by the acronym IGCC, combined with systems for capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions.

The plants may be located at one of eight sites previously slated for new coal plant pro- jects before the buyout agreement. The size of the plants was not announced, but spokesman Tom Kleckner said the projects will take at least six years to design, permit, build and bring on line.

"It's time to start exploring how we bring better technology to Texas so we can generate clean, affordable, reliable power in the future," said Michael MacDougall of Texas Pacific Group, one of the investors.

Gasification technology has been used for many years, but there are only a handful of plants in the U.S. that use it.

In an IGCC plant, the fuel, such as coal or a refining byproduct called pet coke, is turned into a synthetic gas, a combination of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. When the synthetic gas is cooled and treated, particulate matter, mercury and sulfur are removed, creating a fuel that can run through natural gas turbines.

Power plants using coal gasification technology can emit as much as 33 percent less nitrogen oxide, 75 percent less sulfur dioxide and 40 percent less particulate matter than typical coal plants, according to data from GE, which is a manufacturer of gasification technology.

Officials with the two environmental groups that worked with the investors on their buyout plans applauded the IGCC plans.

'Step in the right direction'

Jim Marston, regional director of Environmental Defense, called the plans "another step in the right direction," while Tim Greeff, campaign manager for the Natural Resource Defense Council's Climate Center, said it was an indication the company and investors were "putting their money where their mouth is."

"We're glad that they are going to include carbon capture, because IGCC is not enough," Greeff said.

TXU said it will select two or more competing IGCC technologies, combined with carbon capture systems, that will use both Powder River Basin and lignite coals. The plants will act as research and development projects aimed at improving the efficiency, cost and environmental performance of the technologies, the company said.

A number of companies have developed gasification technology, including GE, ConocoPhillips, Shell, Alstom and Mitsubishi.

Storing carbon dioxide in the ground on a scale equal to the annual output of a power plant is much less developed, however.

Before the investor groups announced their buyout plans, TXU pursued plans for 11 new coal plants in Texas. As part of their campaign, officials regularly discounted IGCC technology as an alternative.

They stressed the limited track record of the technology, higher costs and lack of performance guarantees from equipment manufacturers. At one point the company sent reporters a compilation of press stories about IGCC projects that had been delayed.

But some of the claims were open to interpretation.

For example, officials would often point to a Tampa, Fla., IGCC plant that was off line for more than 100 days last year as a sign of the technology's shortcomings. But the Florida plant was off line because of problems with its gas turbine, not because of the IGCC technology, said Neville Holt, a fellow at the Electric Power Research Institute, an industry think tank.

And David Crain, chairman and CEO of power plant operator NRG Energy, said Mitsubishi Corp. recently agreed to guarantee the performance of IGCC technology NRG will use in a planned New York plant.

"We're certainly glad TXU is no longer trying to discredit IGCC technology and is coming over to our view on the role it will play in Texas," said Thad Hill, head of NRG's Texas operations.

Other projects planned

There are other IGCC projects planned in Texas.

There are two Texas sites on the shortlist for the FutureGen project, a joint government/private sector effort to build a clean-burning coal plant that captures all of its CO₂ output.

Houston-based Tondu Corp. has proposed a 600-megawatt plant using coal gasification for the Corpus Christi area, and in Fort Bend County Hunton Energy, a unit of heating and air-conditioning contractor Hunton Group, is planning a $2.4 billion IGCC project fueled by pet coke.

NRG said it is working on a project but is waiting until it is further along before announcing details.

Chron