Taylorville energy center gets OK to begin construction
ASSOCIATED PRESS

June 5, 2007 – TAYLORVILLE, Ill. -- A planned $2 billion, 630-megawatt plant that would turn high-sulfur Illinois coal into a synthetic gas for use in producing electricity has received its air permit, officials announced Tuesday.

But hurdles still remain before the plant is constructed and operational.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich said in a statement the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency issued the permit to Christian County Generation LLC for the Taylorville Energy Center, the power-generating plant expected to use what's known as the integrated gasification combined cycle.

Using such technology, clean-burning synthetic gas that is created would be used to produce electricity. And unlike conventional coal-fired power plants, IGCC plants have the potential to cut greenhouse gas emissions by capturing carbon dioxide that can be permanently injected below ground for storage -- a process called sequestration.

The project, near this central Illinois city of roughly 11,300 residents, still requires lawmaker help. Rep. Gary Hannig, a Taylorville Democrat, has sponsored the Clean Coal Program Law, which would let developers enter into long-term, regulated cost-based contracts with large Illinois electric utilities.

If that measure passes this session, construction on the plant could begin later this year, with operations beginning as soon as 2012, officials say.

The plant, once built, also would require an EPA operating permit before being fired up, said Maggie Carson, a spokeswoman for the Illinois EPA.

The project would create 1,500 construction jobs, 120 permanent jobs at the plant and 160 new mining jobs to supply the 1.8 million tons of Illinois coal needed each year to power more than 600,000 households, Blagojevich said.

"This is a landmark day for the state of Illinois and the Taylorville Energy Center. This permit sets the standard by which other IGCC power plants will be judged," said Greg Kunkel, vice president of independent power producer Tenaska, Christian County Generation's managing partner.

A Northern Illinois University study released last month found that the plant, once running, would add $356 million a year to the area's economy.

"Our analysis indicates central Illinois will also benefit from a regional ripple effect that will create hundreds of new positions in industries such as retail, hospitality and health care." John Lewis, a Northern Illinois University economist and the report's lead author, has said.

Christian County Generation LLC: http://www.cleancoalillinois.com

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Associated Press


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