Taylorville is a $3.5 billion clean-coal project which is to be constructed in Illinois. It is a hybrid integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant, which is expected to generate 525MW to 550MW of power along with the production of substitute natural gas. The facility would also capture 50% of the carbon emissions and store it.
The IGCC technology permits coal and other petroleum-based fuel to generate power while capturing pollutants before they are released. Gasification separates pollutants like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury from gas before firing it and captures carbon.
Christian County Generation, a joint venture between Tenaska and MDL Holding, got a lift with the passage of a bill to develop and pay for coal-gasification projects from the Illinois lawmakers in 2008.
Bart Ford, vice president of Tenaska, said: This joint state-federal effort is exactly what is needed in order to show that coal can be used on a commercial scale to produce power with no greater emissions than natural gas plants.
The negotiations would take six to nine months to get closed. Tenaska officials expect that by the end of 2010, the project would get the required federal and state approvals. The plant would be built in four years.
