July 27, 2005
News Release 05-16
Brad Peck, Corporate Communications Officer
(509) 377-8247 / 727-2808
RICHLAND, Wash. – Energy Northwest’s Board of Directors passed a resolution today to pursue permitting and possible construction of an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle power plant in western Washington.
The proposal calls for a 600-megawatt power plant, designed to operate on a “synthesis gas” with regulated emissions similar to a natural gas plant. The clean burning synthesis gas can be produced by gasifying - rather than burning - a variety of carbon-based feed stocks including petroleum coke and coal. Initial operation of the completed plant could be as early as 2011.
The board members cast a total of 18 votes; 13 yes, 4 no, and 1 abstain. Tacoma Public Utilities and the City of Richland were not present for the vote. A simple majority of the votes was required to approve the resolution.
Washington law required supporting resolutions from 10 or more of Energy Northwest’s members before the proposal could be brought before the Board of Directors for today’s vote. That process concluded yesterday with 14 member resolutions in support. Energy Northwest opted not to count one of the supporting resolutions due to specialized language added by the member utility. The net result was 13 supporting resolutions.
According to Project Manager Tom Krueger, the next major step in the effort is to complete negotiations on an appropriate industrial site for the plant. “We have studied several sites, and a few have the necessary characteristics, including access to the western Washington power grid. We’ve narrowed our list to two sites, one primary and one alternate. I expect site negotiations will take another 30 to 60 days, followed by a 14-18 month process of securing a site permit from Washington’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council,” Krueger said.
Dan Porter, head of Energy Northwest’s generation project development said, “Energy Northwest is a strong proponent of conservation and renewable energy sources. Even so, we don’t believe those preferred options alone will be sufficient to meet future demand for electricity.”
Krueger acknowledged that some people may suggest IGCC is nothing more than a coal plant under a new name. “They would be mistaken. The differences are real and meaningful. IGCC has been in use in Europe for decades where higher energy prices made gasification a reality much sooner than here in the U.S. The Europeans chose IGCC not as the lowest cost option, but as the realistic, environmentally responsible option for producing large quantities of base load power at affordable rates; exactly what we need here in this county,” he said.
Porter noted that, “As a public power agency we are charged with providing economically and environmentally responsible options to our members. This [IGCC] project has the potential to let us use abundant domestic coal supplies and other fuels to produce large quantities of electricity in an environmentally responsible manner. We also have a strong desire to help move carbon dioxide capture and sequestration from the research world to commercial application. Our close alliance with the Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership (BSCSP) – which is pursuing such a program - is evidence of that commitment.”
Energy Northwest’s current IGCC proposal includes the features that ready the plant for the capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide if and when it becomes commercially feasible. The BSCSP includes other partners, such as Pacific Northwest National Labs, who are actively working on processes to safely and permanently sequester captured CO2. One such initiative is focused on storing CO2 in underground geologic formations common to the Pacific Northwest.
Energy Northwest’s 19 member utilities are: Asotin County PUD, Benton County PUD, Chelan County PUD, City of Richland, Ferry County PUD, Franklin County PUD, Grant County PUD, Grays Harbor County PUD, Kittitas County PUD, Klickitat County PUD, Mason County PUD No. 1, Mason County PUD No. 3, Okanogan County PUD, Pacific County PUD No. 2, Seattle City Light, Skamania County PUD, Snohomish County PUD, Tacoma Public Utilities, and Wahkiakum County PUD.