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Archived News
Columbia Generating Station Information
July 12, 2007
News Release 07-13
Brad Peck, Corporate Communications
(509) 377-8247
Gary Miller
(509) 377-8728
RICHLAND, Wash. –Public power agency Energy Northwest is moving forward with plans to permit and construct a 680-megawatt gasification power plant at the Port of Kalama in southwestern Washington state.
The agency has asked the state’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council to hold adjudicatory hearings in late October, followed by an EFSEC recommendation on the project by the end of December and a decision by the governor in early 2008.
This latest action reverses action by Energy Northwest in late May when the agency announced it was slowing its permitting activities for up to 90 days to allow time for Energy Northwest and others to study the language in a new state law entitled “Mitigating the impacts of climate change.” That legislation was signed into law by Governor Gregoire on May 3 and takes effect July 22.
In a recent letter to EFSEC, Energy Northwest said:
“We are ready to continue the permitting of the Pacific Mountain Energy Center and request the Council start the adjudicatory process by issuing the Notice of Intervention. We appreciate EFSEC’s willingness to defer our proceedings in order for us to evaluate the implications of [ESSB 6001; Mitigating the impacts of climate change]. We have completed our evaluation and are ready to move forward. “
The letter also addressed greenhouse gas emissions limits in the new law. Energy Northwest is preparing a carbon sequestration plan under special language included in the legislation for projects already in the permitting process. They will submit the plan to EFSEC in late July.
Kalama power plant project moving forward
Unlike conventional coal plants that burn coal, the Pacific Mountain Energy Center would produce a clean-burning, hydrogen-rich synthesis gas from petroleum coke, coal or other solid
feedstocks. The technology allows for the reduction or removal of carbon dioxide and pollutants often associated with power plant emissions.
Energy Northwest officials point out that PMEC will be a valuable tool in advancing nationwide efforts to develop permanent in-ground carbon storage. The agency is part of the Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership, a DOE funded effort to develop and promote permanent, large-scale carbon dioxide sequestration.
Energy Northwest is also pointing to the potential economic boon that the $1.5 billion project will be to one of the state’s most economically challenged areas. PMEC Project Manager Ted Beatty said the facility is likely to employ up to 1,000 workers in prevailing-wage jobs during construction, followed by approximately 100 permanent family-wage jobs.
“With recent power prices temporarily soaring over $250 per megawatt-hour it is clear we need more conservation, energy efficiency and additional generation. Our electrical energy choices and policies must balance the issues of grid reliability, environmental responsibility and the cost to northwest ratepayers,” Beatty said. ”The more Washington power supply and legislative policies begin to mirror those of California, the more likely our retail power rates will begin to look like those of the Golden State. We expect the PMEC facility to be a stabilizing influence on the regional market by ensuring adequate supplies of affordable full-time power,” he added.
Citing several advantages of a modern gasification power plant project, Beatty highlighted one often overlooked benefit. “PMEC will provide affordable power. Perhaps equally important however is the beneficial impact it can have on wind power development. The region’s power supply is already challenged to absorb the amount of intermittent wind power already in place. Adding additional full-time power from a facility like PMEC will allow the integration of more wind, solar and other intermittent power,” he said.