Nine coal projects net $1 billion from IRS

Dec. 1 -- The Internal Revenue Service has allocated nearly $1 billion in tax credits to nine planned clean-coal projects.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized $1.65 billion in credits for clean-coal projects. The act allocated $800 million of credits to integrated gasification combined cycle projects, $500 million to non-IGCC advanced coal electricity generation projects, and $350 million to gasification projects. Within these caps, the IRS is required, after consultation with the Department of Energy, to allocate the credits to specific projects.

The projects receiving credits are in nine different states. Credits were allocated to two IGCC bituminous coal projects, an IGCC lignite project, two non-IGCC advanced coal generation projects, and four gasification projects.

About $650 million in additional tax credits will be available for allocation to clean-coal projects in 2007, according to the IRS.