FUTUREGEN 2.0
On August 5, 2010, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the awarding of $1 billion in Recovery Act funding to the FutureGen Alliance, Ameren Energy Resources, Babcock & Wilcox, and Air Liquide Process & Construction, Inc. to build FutureGen 2.0, a clean coal repowering program and carbon dioxide (CO2) storage network.
The project was designed to test advanced oxy-combustion technology to capture approximately 1.3 million tonnes of CO2 each year. Oxy-combustion burns coal with a mixture of oxygen and CO2 instead of air to produce a concentrated CO2 stream for safe, permanent, storage. In addition, oxy-combustion technology creates a near-zero emissions plant by eliminating almost all of the mercury, SOx, NOx, and particulate pollutants from plant emissions. The Office of Fossil Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory studies have identified oxy-combustion as potentially the least cost approach to clean-up existing coal-fired facilities and capture CO2 for geologic storage.
Morgan County, Ill. was selected as the preferred location for the FutureGen 2.0 CO2 storage site, visitor center, research, and training facilities.
TIMELINE
PHASE II BEGINS
On February 4, 2013, following the successful completion of the first phase, the Energy Department announced the beginning of Phase II of project development with a new cooperative agreement between the FutureGen Industrial Alliance and the Department of Energy for an innovative carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Illinois.
DRAFT EIS ISSUED
On April 25, 2013, a draft Environmental Impact Statement for the FutureGen 2.0 project was released.
FINAL EIS ISSUED
On October 25, 2013, the Department of Energy released the final Environmental Impact Statement for the FutureGen 2.0 project.
RECORD OF DECISION ISSUED
On January 15, 2014, the Department of Energy released the Record of Decision for the FutureGen 2.0 project. DOE has decided to proceed with cost-shared funding for the FutureGen 2.0 Project, providing the Alliance with $1 billion through cooperative agreements to support the planning, design, construction, and operation of a prototype power plant, including the capture, conveyance, and sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2).
CLOSEOUT OF FEDERAL SUPPORT
Due to statutory restraints under The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Department of Energy initiated a structured closeout of federal support for the FutureGen 2.0 project in February 2015. Although federal support for the project has ended, FutureGen 2.0 provided tangible benefits and valuable information, particularly with regard to oxy-combustion technology and storage site characterization.
