Texas could gain from restructuring FutureGen project

DOE Secretary Samuel Bodman said the $1.8 billion cost of building the FutureGen plant in Mattoon, Ill. "has almost doubled and innovations in technology and changes in the marketplace have created other viable options for demonstrating carbon capture and storage on a commercial scale."

The DOE's plans to restructure FutureGen include spending $648 million on several projects around the country that would develop carbon capture and underground storage from coal power plants.

The move to halt the project angered Illinois officials, who had won a competition with several other states to have the FutureGen plant built.

Texas had two areas, Jewett in North Central Texas and Penwell in West Texas, that were among the four finalists for the project when federal officials chose the Illinois site in mid-December of 2007. The Texas Legislature approved $2 million for state officials to use in seeking the FutureGen plant, and local and regional officials in Jewett and Penwell spent thousands more to lure the plant to their area.

The reversal of fortune has heartened local officials at both Texas sites. Leon County Judge Byron Ryder said he believes that Jewett was the best site all along, and that his area has a good shot at getting the plant the second time around.

"This restructuring...is an all-around better deal for Americans," Bodman said in announcing the decision to redirect the FutureGen program. Bodman said the department would solicit industry applications for participation in the new projects. The idea is for the government to pay for the construction of the carbon-capture technology while the private sector builds the power plants.

The DOE plans to begin operating the carbon capture and sequestration equipment by 2015. The department issued a request for information seeking input from the power and coal industries by March 3. That will determine how many carbon dioxide capture locations the department can pay for.

The FutureGen Alliance supports the new technology, which would use cheap coal as a fuel but captures and stores the carbon dioxide emissions, resulting in nearly emission-free operation. FutureGen is a non-profit consortium with 12 members, mostly power companies, who are jointly developing the technology.