The U.S. Department of Energy has given the green signal for a cleaner-burning, 285-megawatt coal-fired power plant’s building at an existing power station site near Orlando, Florida, as the DOE informed.
It is in 2010, the $569-million plant is due to come on line. The federal taxpayers will be paying 41 percent of the plant’s cost. The plant will be own by the Southern Co., the Orlando Utilities Commission and KBR Inc.
The new plant at the Stanton Energy Center of Orlando Utilities Commission will be one of the cleanest-burning coal plants, according to Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman. The ‘environment-friendly’ plant will be incorporating both integrated gasification-combined cycle design along with modern emission controls.
The DOE’s budget will be providing federal funds to the plant. This budget is part of U.S. President George W. Bush’s plan to spend $2 billion over 10 years for delivering innovative technologies. These technologies promise to improve the environmental performance of both the new and the existing coal-fired power plants, as the DOE said.
The DOE said,
The transport gasifier technology to be demonstrated at the plant is unique among coal gasification technologies in that it cost-effectively uses low-rank coals, as well as coals with a high moisture or high ash content.
