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CLEAN COAL PLANT IN TAYLORVILLE
WOULD BE ECONOMIC BOON,
NIU study finds project would revitalize state’s coal industry while providing thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in investment for Central Illinois.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 15, 2007 — TAYLORVILLE, ILL. — A proposed clean coal power plant in Taylorville, Illinois, would be an economic boon to the region, according to a study released today by Northern Illinois University (NIU). The study examines the likely economic impact of the construction and operation of the Taylorville Energy Center, a 630 megawatt power generation facility to be built by Christian County Generation, LLC (CCG).
“Construction of the Taylorville Energy Center will create more than 1,500 construction jobs, plus hundreds of permanent mining and power plant jobs,” said NIU Economist John Lewis, Ph.D., lead author of the report. “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.”
Illinois coal, while high in energy content, contains more sulfur than Western coal. As generators shifted to Western coal in response to environmental regulations, communities in central and southern Illinois were hit particularly hard. This report suggests the total economic impact of the facility for Illinois would be in the billions of dollars, with $1.1 billion coming from construction and hundreds of millions more generated annually from ongoing operations and the consumption of Illinois coal.
Taylorville Energy Center (TEC) would be the first clean-coal power plant built in the state. It will be among the most environmentally-friendly, commercially-sized coal plants in the world. With its integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology, coal is converted into a synthesis gas and broken down prior to combustion, allowing pollutants to be separated and removed before gas is burned, thus making even high-sulfur Illinois coal an environmentally viable fuel source.
“This project is good for the community and vital for Illinois' struggling coal industry,” said Phil Gonet, president of the Illinois Coal Association. “For the future economic development of our state, it is critical that this plant gets built.”
CONTACT:
Heather Shadur, (312) 933.6777, heather@shadur.com
Dave Lundy, (312) 953.1122, dlundy@aileroninc.com
Jana Martin, Tenaska (402) 691-9595, jmartin@tenaska.com
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