The companies will leverage the DOE funding for the construction and operating costs of facility, which will be designed to produce energy from coal by capturing and storing approximately 1.3 million tons of CO2 each year, or 90% of the plant’s carbon dioxide emissions. The facility will located at Ameren’s Meredosia Plant near Jacksonville, Illinois.
Once the project receives all the regulatory approvals, the companies will negotiate on a cooperative agreement with DOE, followed by a six-month initial design process and analysis of costs.
The AER plant would use an oxy-coal carbon capture technology developed by B&W in collaboration with Air Liquide that uses oxygen instead of air during combustion, producing flue gas composed of nearly pure CO2, suitable for compression and storage.
Construction on the project is expected to begin in 2012 and is anticipated to be completed in the third quarter 2015. The new project is expected to create 900 temporary and permanent jobs in the Central Illinois area.
Charles Naslund, president and CEO of AER, said: “We’ve teamed up with B&W and Air Liquide on this important project for a number of reasons. B&W’s oxy-coal combustion system, when coupled with Air Liquide’s ASU and CO2 purification and compression technologies, can reduce a plant’s carbon dioxide and other air emissions to near-zero levels.”
