Tenaska Inc. Trailblazer Energy Center, http://www.tenaskatrailblazer.com/trailblazer.html
Success for clean coal with enviros approval of next gen coal plant?
On Friday, Amanda wrote a piece on new technology that might make carbon capture and sequestration economically viable in the near-term. Yesterday’s announcement by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Tenaska Inc. show the importance of this type of win for the future of coal-fired power plants. EDF and Tenaska Inc. have signed an agreement that ensures that the environmental group will not stand in the way of the facility’s permitting process as long as the proposed facility meets aggressive targets with respect to capturing greenhouse gases and limiting water use. To accomplish both of these goals, economically viable technology options are vital.
Tenaska’s Trailblazer Energy Center will be a 765 megawatt (gross) power plant near Sweetwater, TX just west of Abilene.
According to Tenaska’s proposal, the facility will produce enough electricity to power 600,000 homes in Texas while providing carbon dioxide for use in Texas oil fields. Their carbon capture process will prevent 85-90% of the carbon dioxide produced during the production of electricity from being emitted into the atmosphere. Instead of this gas being stored underground as in traditional carbon capture and sequestration, it will be sent via pipeline to Texas oil fields to increase the productivity of the oil wells – a process called enhanced oil recovery. The carbon dioxide will be used in these fields to lower the viscosity of the crude oil, making it easier to pump from the ground.
Under the agreement, the facility will also be limited to using 2,000 acre-feet of water (about 657 million gallons) per year from “outside sources.” In order to meet this stringent requirement (a typical coal plant will consume 3 times this amount every year), the Sweetwater plant will use a dry cooling system, utilizing air instead of water for cooling needs. This will make each kilowatt-hour of electricity it produces more expensive (dry cooling is less efficient than the wet cooling systems we typically use). But, it has the advantage of drastically lowering the water requirements of the plant. The majority of these 2,000 acre-feet of water will presumably be used for the carbon capture portion of the power plant.
With this go-ahead, Tenaska Inc. has announced its plans to break ground on this facility in 2011 to supply its first megawatt-hour in 2015.
If this facility is successfully built and operated in compliance with these agreements, it will be a huge step in the clean coal movement. Advocates of clean coal believe that, with proper carbon capture technology, coal can remain an economically and environmentally viable portion of the energy mix. The success of plants like Trailblazer will show of this dream can become a reality.
Bottom Line: Coal plants with decreased (though still existent) environmental footprints are on the horizon.
Our aim in this blog is to provide critique and commentary on world energy news in an effort to clarify the issues and allow the reader to reach an informed decision on energy issues.
Enviros approve next generation coal plant
Tenaska Inc. Trailblazer Energy Center, http://www.tenaskatrailblazer.com/trailblazer.html
Success for clean coal with enviros approval of next gen coal plant?
On Friday, Amanda wrote a piece on new technology that might make carbon capture and sequestration economically viable in the near-term. Yesterday’s announcement by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Tenaska Inc. show the importance of this type of win for the future of coal-fired power plants. EDF and Tenaska Inc. have signed an agreement that ensures that the environmental group will not stand in the way of the facility’s permitting process as long as the proposed facility meets aggressive targets with respect to capturing greenhouse gases and limiting water use. To accomplish both of these goals, economically viable technology options are vital.
Tenaska’s Trailblazer Energy Center will be a 765 megawatt (gross) power plant near Sweetwater, TX just west of Abilene.
http://www.tenaskatrailblazer.com/trailblazer.html
According to Tenaska’s proposal, the facility will produce enough electricity to power 600,000 homes in Texas while providing carbon dioxide for use in Texas oil fields. Their carbon capture process will prevent 85-90% of the carbon dioxide produced during the production of electricity from being emitted into the atmosphere. Instead of this gas being stored underground as in traditional carbon capture and sequestration, it will be sent via pipeline to Texas oil fields to increase the productivity of the oil wells – a process called enhanced oil recovery. The carbon dioxide will be used in these fields to lower the viscosity of the crude oil, making it easier to pump from the ground.
Under the agreement, the facility will also be limited to using 2,000 acre-feet of water (about 657 million gallons) per year from “outside sources.” In order to meet this stringent requirement (a typical coal plant will consume 3 times this amount every year), the Sweetwater plant will use a dry cooling system, utilizing air instead of water for cooling needs. This will make each kilowatt-hour of electricity it produces more expensive (dry cooling is less efficient than the wet cooling systems we typically use). But, it has the advantage of drastically lowering the water requirements of the plant. The majority of these 2,000 acre-feet of water will presumably be used for the carbon capture portion of the power plant.
With this go-ahead, Tenaska Inc. has announced its plans to break ground on this facility in 2011 to supply its first megawatt-hour in 2015.
If this facility is successfully built and operated in compliance with these agreements, it will be a huge step in the clean coal movement. Advocates of clean coal believe that, with proper carbon capture technology, coal can remain an economically and environmentally viable portion of the energy mix. The success of plants like Trailblazer will show of this dream can become a reality.
Bottom Line: Coal plants with decreased (though still existent) environmental footprints are on the horizon.