September 8, 2008—A three-year initiative to design and engineer Canada’s first near-zero emission thermal power plant reached a milestone recently when EPCOR Utilities selected Siemens Fuel Gasification Technology as the technology provider for the design of a coal gasification facility. Siemens has operated its gasification technologies for more than 20 years, using a wide variety of energy sources as feedstocks for the conversion process.
The selection is the latest step in the EPCOR-led Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) of an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) technology power plant that could deliver improved air quality and capture carbon emissions for permanent storage.
Siemens will license its SFG-500 coal gasifier technology to the FEED project. If subsequent investment and construction decisions go as planned, a 270-megawatt (net) generating station using the new technology would be targeted to commence operations in 2015.
The Alberta Energy Research Institute, Natural Resources Canada and EPCOR have each contributed $11 million to the $33 million FEED project, located at EPCOR’s Genesee Generating Station, near Edmonton, Alberta. The FEED project is being conducted in conjunction with the Canadian Clean Power Coalition, and is the first project to be supported by the Canadian government’s ecoENERGY Technology Initiative.
To learn more about EPCOR’s Environmental Vision, visit the company’s Web site.
