ATLANTA, Jan 23, 2006 -- BUSINESS WIRE

 

The ERORA Group LLC of Louisville, Kentucky, an independent power developer, has signed a license agreement with GE Energy, authorizing the use of GE's gasification technology for a proposed power generating station near Taylorville in Christian County, Illinois. GE also has been selected to provide the process design for the gasification portion of the facility and the power island.

ERORA has taken regulatory steps toward approval for the construction of an integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) plant that would be fueled with Illinois basin coal and would employ GE's gasification technology to generate approximately 770 gross megawatts of power, with additional consideration for co-production of products derived from synthesis gas. Initially, the plant was designed to be a pulverized coal facility.

The project received a major boost recently when Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced $5 million in public and private support. ERORA will receive $2.5 million for front-end engineering and design work from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and another $2.5 million from the public-private Illinois Clean Coal Review Board.

If approved, the Taylorville Energy Center would be among the first IGCC plants built in the United States in the last ten years. Construction is set to begin in 2007, with the facility expected to begin commercial operation in 2010.

"ERORA's plan to construct an IGCC plant is the latest evidence that IGCC is gaining momentum in the U.S.," said Edward Lowe, general manager of GE's gasification business.

GE's IGCC or "cleaner coal" technology is a key component of GE ecomagination, a company-wide initiative to bring to market new technologies that will help customers meet pressing environmental challenges.

GE Energy acquired the assets of Chevron Texaco's gasification technology business in June of 2004. More than 65 commercial gasification facilities using GE technology are in operation or advanced development stages.

The ERORA Group (www.erora.com), with offices in Louisville, Kentucky and Fairfax, Virginia, was established in 1999 as a privately owned developer of power generation projects, and to provide risk management and information services.

About GE Energy

GE Energy (www.ge.com/energy) is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technology, with 2004 revenue of $17.3 billion. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, GE Energy provides equipment, service and management solutions across the power generation, transmission and distribution, distributed power and energy rental industries.

SOURCE: GE Energy

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