A newly signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the
purchase of electricity produced by the Texas Clean Energy Project (TCEP) is an
important step forward for what will be one of the world’s most advanced and
cleanest coal-based power plants, funded in part by the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE).
Under the MOU, CPS Energy—a municipally owned utility
serving San Antonio, Texas—will purchase electricity generated by
the first-of-a-kind commercial clean coal power plant, starting in mid 2014.
TCEP, a 400-megawatt integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) facility
located about 15 miles west of Odessa, will capture 90% of its carbon dioxide
(CO2)—approximately 3 million tons annually—more than any power
plant of commercial scale operating anywhere in the world.
The captured CO2 will be used for enhanced oil
recovery (EOR) in the West
Texas Permian
Basin, a process that
both prevents the greenhouse gas from entering the atmosphere and enables more
oil to be produced from regional oilfields. Additionally, the plant will use CO2
and a portion of the coal synthesis gas produced by the plant to make urea, a
high-value chemical. Smaller quantities of commercial sulfuric acid, argon, and
inert slag will also be marketed.
IGCC is a technology that turns coal into synthesis gas, and
then removes most impurities before it is combusted to produce energy. EOR,
which is a way to squeeze additional hard-to-recover oil from older fields, is
an increasingly important contributor to U.S. oil supplies, currently
accounting for about 13% of domestic production. The permanent geologic storage
of CO2 is a vital component of carbon capture and storage technology,
which many experts believe is a major option for helping reduce atmospheric
emissions that could contribute to global climate change. DOE’s Office of
Fossil Energy (FE) has been in the forefront of research and development
advances in all of these areas.
TCEP was a third round selection under FE’s Clean Coal Power
Initiative, a cost-shared collaboration between the Federal government and
private industry aimed at stimulating investment in low-emission coal-based
power generation technologies through successful commercial demonstrations. In
January 2010, DOE awarded a cooperative agreement to Summit Texas Clean Energy
to develop the 8-year project. The agreement spans the design, construction,
and demonstration of an IGCC power plant that can co-produce high-value
products and capture CO2. FE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory
implements the Clean Coal Power Initiative and manages its projects.
CPS Energy signed the memorandum as one of their many
efforts to protect the environment by using a clean energy plan that includes
coal power. To balance low utility bills for their customers with environmental
responsibility, CPS uses a diverse mix of fuels to provide energy. The utility’s
current fuel mix is 39% nuclear, 41% coal, 5% natural gas and oil, 5% purchased
power, and 10% renewable energy, including wind and solar energy and
landfill-generated methane gas. The Texas Clean Energy Project helps CPS meet
its goal of providing reliable energy to meet their customers’ increasing
energy demand while maintaining a healthy environment.
