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Coal Power’s Future BEYONd INTEGRATEd GASIFICATION COmBINEd CYClE By mike mudd Although the United States has more than 250 years of coal reserves, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to use that coal to generate electricity. Compliance with new air regulations will require an estimated $52 billion investment on the current coal-fueled generation fleet and the potential closure of smaller, older coal-fueled power plants over the next two decades. Companies also are facing increasing pressure to address growing concentrations of greenhouse gas emissions and their potential impact on the world climate. Carbon capture from the current coal-fueled generation fleet would be prohibitively costly and significantly reduce the power plant output. At the same time, the United States is becoming increasingly dependent on imported energy sources to meet ever-growing demands. Beyond the nation’s dependence on foreign oil reserves, it is relying more and more on natural gas imports as demand outgrows domestic reserves. If the United States is going to reduce its dependence on energy imports and continue taking advantage of coal, the country’s most abundant domestic energy source, to fuel our economy, it must redesign coal-fueled generation to allow use of coal reserves with little, if any, environmental impact. The FutureGen Prototype The FutureGen project is designed to shape the future of coal-based energy generation. Building on decades of collaborative research and development between industry and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), FutureGen will bring the best technologies together to create the world’s first near-zero emissions electricity and hydrogen production facility using coal by 2012. The project will advance state-of-theart Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) technology to generate electricity and produce hydrogen to power fuel cells for transportation and other energy needs. The technology also will integrate carbon capture 50 EnErgyBiz magazinE November/December 2005 and geologic sequestration to address concerns about climate change. The Team Seven of the largest electric utilities and coal producers in the United States have created the FutureGen Industrial Alliance to partner with DOE in an effort to design, construct and operate FutureGen, a nominal 275-megawatt prototype plant. The partners will contribute approximately $250 million of the $950 million project costs and provide technical expertise and guidance. Battelle Memorial Institute, one of the world’s foremost research and development institutions, was instrumental in establishing the Alliance and will lend its expertise in the implementation of the project. Current Alliance partners include American Electric Power, BHP Billiton, CONSOL Energy, Inc., Foundation Coal Corp., Kennecott Energy Co., Peabody Energy, and Southern Company. However, because of the global interest in using coal to meet energy demands with an enhanced environmental profile, the Alliance is open to other U.S. and international companies. For example, China Huaneng Group, a large, coal-fueled power generator in the People’s Republic of China, has expressed interest in joining the Alliance. “Tricked-Out” IGCC The principal components of FutureGen – coal gasification, electricity generation, hydrogen production, near-zero emissions and carbon capture – are all technically feasible, but have not been integrated or proven economic in an integrated system. The goal of FutureGen is to take these technologies to the next level – to demonstrate them in an integrated power plant and determine their real costs and operational capabilities. Coal-gasification is a proven technology that has been used for decades by the chemical industry and, in more limited applications, for power production. Gasification converts the coal’s carbon to a synthesis gas composed primarily of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The synthesis gas can react with steam to produce additional hydrogen and a concentrated stream of carbon dioxide. FutureGen will use next-generation gasification technology that involves more advanced designs for the gasifier, fuel-feed systems, gas clean-up systems and oxygen production systems. It will also have a mechanism to test other more advanced technologies in a slip-stream. The hydrogen produced at FutureGen will be used as a clean fuel for electricity generation in turbines, fuel cells or hybrid combinations of these technologies. The carbon dioxide will be separated from the hydrogen, captured and permanently sequestered in deep unminable coal seams, deep saline aquifers or other geologic formations. Carbon sequestration activities will be monitored over time to assess their effectiveness and potential applicability in various settings around the globe. Critical Overhaul With its $950 million price tag and aggressive target operation date of 2012, the 275-megawatt FutureGen plant won’t be inexpensive or easy, but it is essential to ensure that the United States continues to support the country’s energy appetite with abundant domestic coal resources. That’s why both industry and government are willing to provide the funds and expertise to make FutureGen a reality. FutureGen provides the opportunity for the best minds in industry and government to take the fleet of coal-based power plant technology that is used today to the next level — even more efficient, affordable and near-zero emission coal-fueled plants to serve generations to come. Mike Mudd is acting chief executive officer, FutureGen Alliance, and program manager, technology development, American Electric Power.
Courtesy Next eNergy o n t o p i c Generation Technologies from EnergyPulse To view any of these articles, please go to www.energycentral.com/quicklink and type the quick link code into the quick link box. Undervaluing Unregulated Assets? Ramon Mischkot, Transactive Management Quick link code: P1083 End the Asset Management Tug-of-War Richard MacDonald, SPL WorldGroup, Inc. Quick link code: P1025 GE & California Environmental Strategy Stephen Heins, Orion Energy Systems Quick link code: P1028 Negawatts Compete with Megawatts? Ronald Sutherland, independent consulting economist Quick link code: P1051 Distributed Energy Resources Roger Arnold, Silverthorn Engineering Quick link code: P944 The Current Economics of Wind Frank Stern, PA Consulting Group Quick link code: P991 New Jersey’s Basic Generation Service Auction Jeanne Fox, N.J. Board of Public Utilities Quick link code: P1016 Canadian Tidal Power Installation Harry Valentine, commentator, energy researcher Quick link code: P1044 Green Power Peter Asmus, Pathfinder Communications Quick link code: P988 The Hydrogen Economy Alice Friedemann, journalist Quick link code: P940 Fleet Optimization for Environmental Compliance Jeffery Williams, Emerson Process Management, Power & Water Solutions Quick link code: P857 Automation technologies Vadim Vronsky, power energy analyst Quick link code: P930 Even before media coverage of the aftermath of Katrina and the urgent need for emergency power, potable water and environmental clean up, the consuming public had developed a passing knowledge of portable generators, field reverse osmosis units, and clean air filters for domestic use. And as Katrina clearly showed, the military with the aid of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are performing yeoman service in delivering emergency services, including emergency electrical power. The first responders from the many utility companies are also rendering invaluable services in restoring downed power lines, repairing damaged sub-stations and main power plants. In more tranquil times, however, the business case for distributed generation (such as emergency systems) remains a perennial question for debate and discussion relative to cost-effectiveness, business value, ROI The NextEnergy Microgrid Power Pavilion in downtown Detroit is a collection of natural gas and hydrogen powered engines, fuel cells and photovoltaic arrays that could provide 500,000 kilowatts of power to nearby buildings The Promise of Advanced Mobile Microgrids By Ralph J. Ferraro and C.G. michael Quah and overall energy efficiency, as is evidenced by countless articles in magazines discussing distributed generation. However, one agency, the National Automotive Center (NAC), which is part of TARDEC, (the Tank-Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center) in Warren, Mich., has always kept a weather eye on the intersection of new or existing technologies which may emerge from disparate industries which could result in new innovations of dual-use, in civilian and military applications. One such concept is that of the Advanced Mobile MicroGrid Power System (AM2GPS): a system-integration approach to harness the power from a diversity of gensets: synchronous or asynchronous AC sources, DC sources, such as solar or hybrid-electric vehicles, which could export power, military Tactically Quiet Generators, fuel cells, wind power and waste-to-energy systems. Such www.energybizmag.com EnErgyBiz magazinE 51
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