Power Engineering - NRG receives conditional award for NY IGCC plant

20 December 2006 -- NRG Energy, Inc. received a conditional award of a contract from the New York Power Authority to build a 680 MW integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant at its Huntley facility in Tonawanda, New York.

The project, which represents a total project cost of approximately $1.5 billion, is scheduled to go into commercial operation in 2013. NRG said this plant can be designed to capture and sequester carbon from the first day of operation.

The award is conditional, however, because the cost of the IGCC technology is above current market pricing for new coal plants using more traditional technology that doesn't have the option to capture and sequester carbon. NRG and NYPA are establishing an alliance to pursue tax credits or other federal and/or state funding sources to bridge this economic gap.

"Our public-private partnership with NYPA is essential to making this groundbreaking project a reality," said Crane. "Additional funding is necessary to offset the higher cost for this new plant and transform our current facility to supply power for the next generation, bringing significant environmental and economic benefits to the region."

Background on RFP Process
As part of the Advanced Clean Coal Power Plant Initiative launched earlier this year by the Governor's Office of Regulatory Reform, NYPA issued a request for proposal on September 1 for up to 600 MW electric generating capacity from a coal plant that would significantly reduce emissions and be built with the ability to capture and sequester carbon dioxide emissions. NRG submitted the Huntley IGCC project in response to this RFP, which includes a 20-year contract, on October 31.

IGCC Technology
IGCC is a process that involves converting coal to a synthetic gas, removing the pollutants -- sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury -- as well as potentially carbon dioxide (CO₂), from the synthetic gas before combustion. The cleaned synthetic gas is then used in a combined cycle gas plant in order to generate electricity. The NRG IGCC plant will have the ability to capture up to 65 percent of the carbon dioxide produced. The emissions profile of an IGCC plant, which uses abundant, affordable and domestically available coal, is similar to that of a natural-gas fueled plant.

Location and Economic Benefits
The proposed IGCC facility would be located adjacent to the existing Huntley Generating Station and would utilize existing plant infrastructure such as rail, coal handling, and water and transmission facilities.

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