FutureGen 2.0 Project Moves Into Second Phase

The US Department of Energy has announced the beginning of Phase Two of project development with a new cooperative agreement between the FutureGen Industrial Alliance and the Department of Energy for a carbon capture and storage project in Illinois.

In cooperation with the FutureGen project partners, the Department of Energy is investing in the upgrade of a coal-fired power plant in Meredosia, with oxy-combustion technology to capture more than one million tons of CO2 each year (more than 90% of the plant's carbon emissions).  Other emissions will also be reduced to near-zero levels.  Instead of capturing CO2 in the presence of a large amount of nitrogen, the oxy-combustion approach extracts the oxygen from air before combustion, greatly reducing the cost of carbon capture at the exhaust stack.  The project will test oxygen separation technology and exhaust processing technology after combustion at power plant scales.  The CO2 will then be transported and stored underground at a nearby storage site.

The FutureGen project was originally to be developed in Coles County, but after changes in the makeup of the project, Coles County officials withdrew from the project.  Officials then moved the project site to a former Ameren CIPS plant in Meredosia.

Based on the current findings and the new agreement with the FutureGen Industrial Alliance, preliminary design, pre-construction and engineering for the retrofitted, near-zero emission coal-fired power plant will begin.