November 23, 2009
Kate Rowland
Editor-in-Chief
Intelligent Utility Topics
The U.S. coal-fired electric power industry is without doubt facing ever-increasing challenges in its efforts to remain a viable fuel.
Impending legislation and regulations concerning allowable carbon dioxide emissions, in whatever form these rules might ultimately take, are putting growing pressure on coal-burning utilities to invest in carbon-capture technology research and to diversify their energy portfolios.
One such carbon capture and storage demonstration project, launched in December 2005, is FutureGen. First, the Bush administration tried to cancel the FutureGen project, indicating it was too expensive. The Obama administration announced in mid-June 2009 that it was restoring financing to the project. While the government's expected share when the project was announced was $800 million, by the beginning of January 2008 inflation had raised that estimate to approximately $1.2 billion. The new shared-cost cooperative agreement is, for the time being, $17.3 million.
Within days of the new financing announcement, two of the national consortium's utilities, Southern Company and American Electric Power, withdrew from the $2.4 billion project, saying they would pursue projects of their own instead. But despite withdrawals from some of the original consortium members -- the uncertain financing situation caused numerous delays in the project over the years -- the consortium's nine remaining members have regrouped, and are, as a result of the new agreement with the Department of Energy, seeking to increase the alliance's member firms to 20, and cut costs on the project.
The new agreement covers preliminary design activities through the end of this year in support of the long-term project. The alliance will work with the Energy Department and other partners to continue electric grid interconnect studies, work on securing environmental permits, define alliance operational activities and update plant design and project cost estimates.
"Rather than using traditional coal combustion technology, the plant will be based on the coal gasification process in which the coal's carbon is converted to a 'synthesis gas' made up primarily of hydrogen and carbon monoxide," says FutureGen documents. "Advanced technology will be used to react the synthesis gas with steam to produce additional hydrogen and separate out a concentrated CO2 gas stream from the synthesis gas. Other undesirable impurities will be removed during the process." The resultant hydrogen could then be used as a clean fuel for power generation in turbines, fuel cells, and other commercial uses.
The plant (set for Mattoon, Illinois) and its financing will be reviewed by both the alliance and the government early next year. At that point, it is expected that a decision will be made regarding whether or not to start building.
Fighting Chance
Another clean coal project, selected in 2003 under the initial round of the Energy Department's Clean Coal Power Initiative, was completed successfully in late 2008 and met all of its performance and cost goals. Boston, Mass.-based NeuCo Inc. and Houston, Texas-based Dynegy Inc. conducted the project, which was sponsored by the Office of Fossil Energy and managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory.
This project involved a suite of integrated online optimization systems developed by NeuCo. These were then installed and integrated with plant operations at Dynegy Midwest Generation's Baldwin Energy Complex, a series of three 600-megawatt coal-fired units located in Baldwin, Illinois. The idea behind the software products was to optimize the combustion and soot blowing processes, reduce the ammonia consumed by selective catalytic reduction systems, and improve unit thermal performance and plant-wide availability.
Results of the four-year project included a 12-14 percent drop in nitrogen oxide emissions; a 15-20 percent drop in ammonia consumption; a 0.7 percent improvement in fuel efficiency; an increase in available megawatt-hours of 1.5 percent; and reductions in greenhouse gases, mercury and particulates. According to the final report, these products are expected to provide annual savings to the Baldwin Energy Complex ranging from $7.2 million to $8.1 million plant-wide. The $19 million project was funded 55 percent by the participants, and 45 percent by the Energy Department.
Ron Barnes, president of Shaw Power Group's Fossil & Renewables Division, told the Coal-Gen Conference & Exhibition in Charlotte, N.C., in mid-August that, along with the coming challenges, the industry is facing opportunities. A key to the continued viability of coal-fired generation, he said, will be the development of cost-effective carbon dioxide capture and storage capability. Shaw is currently building one of the first ultra-supercritical power plants in the United States, as well as two supercritical and two circulating fluidized bed power plants.
"We must continue to research, demonstrate and implement new technologies so that future coal plants will be more cost-effective and environmentally friendly. By using our full array of generation options in the energy portfolio, we can ensure that future demand is met regardless of the regulatory environments or financial situations we experience over the next few decades," Barnes told delegates.
For its part, the federal energy department has already recognized circulating fluidized bed technology as a clean coal technology. And in the third, most recent round of its Clean Coal Power Initiative, it announced on July 1 that it will provide up to $408 million in federal funding to Basin Electric Power Cooperative ($100 million) and Hydrogen Energy International LLC ($308 million) to support the two companies' demonstration projects.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative will partner with Powerspan and Burns & McDonnell to demonstrate the removal of CO2 from the flue gas. Hydrogen Energy International will design, construct and operate an integrated gasification combined-cycle power plant. The CO2 will be transported by pipeline to oil reservoirs nearby, where it will be injected for storage, and used to enhance oil recovery.
Coal-fired power may be embattled. But some innovative companies are looking to give it a second wind.
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