GE Energy announced that it is working with partners in Queensland, Australia, to develop the world’s first integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) power plant incorporating 90 percent carbon (CO2) capture and storage (CCS).
IGCC technology enables the use of large amounts of coal to generate electricity with lower emissions than traditional pulverized coal technology and with the ability to capture carbon today for storage or enhanced oil recovery.
GE submitted a full project proposal to the Queensland and Australian federal governments as well as the Australian Coal Association earlier this year. The proposed Wandoan project would produce 400 megawatts (MW) of power pre-carbon capture and would be capable of capturing 90 percent of the CO2 in the fuel stream for future storage. If the development phase moves forward this year, the plant is expected to be ready for commercial operation in late 2015 or early 2016.
Steve Bolze, president of GE Energy Power & Water, said that the project would address the future demand for electricity in Queensland.
“The IGCC plant with carbon capture as proposed by the Wandoan Power Consortium would be a critical step in ensuring the future of cleaner coal technology for power generation and, importantly, would utilize Australia’s most abundant fuel resource, coal, in a cleaner way,” said Bolze.
Coal plays a pivotal role in the Australian economy. In 2009, the country’s coal exports, largely to Asian nations, are expected to reach A$56 billion. In addition, approximately 80 percent of Australia’s electricity production today originates from coal-fired power stations. Early in 2009, the Queensland and Australian federal governments declared in legislation their interest in funding the development and deployment of coal-fuelled projects that incorporate high levels of CCS.
“We are pleased to work with Stanwell, a leading power generator, with the aim of proposing the development of an IGCC plant with carbon capture and storage,” Bolze added.
“The proposed Wandoan Power Project would be based on GE’s commercially available IGCC technologies that have been operating for decades around the world and are being used at the 630-MW commercial plant under construction for Duke Energy at Edwardsport, Ind. in the United States,” he said.
GE is working with Stanwell and Xstrata Coal to develop the project. Coal supply and a long term CO2 storage solution are critical aspects of the project, and Xstrata is working co-operatively with the consortium to identify and secure long term solutions that will serve this project.
“IGCC plants already have demonstrated the capability to significantly reduce emissions, compared to conventional coal-fired plants, and gasification technology has been used widely, at commercial-scale, to separate carbon. What is really exciting here is the opportunity to deploy IGCC technology with CCS and deliver low carbon coal power in Australia,” Bolze said.
GE’s IGCC technology converts coal into a cleaner burning fuel, which then is used by a gas turbine combined-cycle system to generate electricity, providing a cleaner, economical coal-to-power option. GE Energy has been at the forefront of IGCC technology for more than two decades. GE technology was involved in several milestone projects, including the pilot IGCC plant, Coolwater, in Barstow, Calif., and the Polk Tampa Electric IGCC plant in Florida that helped demonstrate the commercial feasibility of IGCC. GE also is supplying IGCC technology for Duke Energy’s plant in Edwardsport, Ind., that is expected to be the world’s largest IGCC facility when it comes online in 2012.
There are 65 GE-licensed gasification facilities operating globally today; 33 of these GE-licensed gasification plants use commercial technology to separate carbon.
