American Electric Power (AEP) has signed a deal with GE Energy and Bechtel Power towards the development of the first integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant to be built in the US in close to a decade.
The move will see GE and Bechtel proceed with the front-end engineering design (FEED) phase for a proposed 629 MW IGCC plant. With the deign process expected to take up to a year, commercial operation of the new plant is anticipated for 2010.
AEP would own and operate the plant, to be built in Meigs County, Ohio. Regulatory approvals for the project are still required
GE Energy is expected to supply the IGCC technology for the new AEP plant while Bechtel would perform engineering, procurement and construction for the plant. Last year GE and Bechtel announced a standard commercial offering for IGCC projects in the US which offers a “cleaner coal” process generating lower emissions than a traditional pulverized coal plant.
Michael G. Morris, AEP’s chairman, president and chief executive officer said: “Ramping up the technology to build the first large-scale, base-load IGCC plant in the country will help industry continue to rely on our nation´s vast domestic coal reserves to generate.”