The Texas Clean Energy Project (TCEP) was a project developed by
Summit Power Group, Inc intended to build of the world’s first
Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle
integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) is a technology using a high pressure gasifier to turn coal and other carbon based fuels into pressurized gas—synthesis gas (syngas). It can then remove impurities from the syngas prior to the electr ...
(IGCC) clean-coal power plant, a type of
carbon capture and storage
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) or carbon capture and sequestration is the process of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) before it enters the atmosphere, transporting it, and storing it (carbon sequestration) for centuries or millennia. Usually th ...
facility, located near
Odessa, Texas
Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small section of the city extends into Midland County.
Odessa's population was 114,428 at the 2020 census, mak ...
(coordinates 31° 44' 46" N, 102° 35' 42" W).
Background
According to Summit, the future Texas Clean Energy Plant was designed for 90%
carbon capture Carbon capture may refer to:
* Carbon capture and utilization, where the captured carbon dioxide is used
* Carbon sequestration, where the captured carbon dioxide is stored
** Carbon capture and storage, referring to carbon sequestration from point ...
, which was projected to be 2.7 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. If accomplished, this would be more than any other power plant of commercial scale operating anywhere in the world. As a result, the company declared that TCEP’s projected carbon emissions would be far lower than those of any existing fossil-fueled power plant.
The potential carbon captured by the plant would be used for
enhanced oil recovery
Enhanced oil recovery (abbreviated EOR), also called tertiary recovery, is the extraction of crude oil from an oil field that cannot be extracted otherwise. EOR can extract 30% to 60% or more of a reservoir's oil, compared to 20% to 40% using ...
in the
West Texas Permian Basin.
Summit was selected by the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to receive a $350 million cost-sharing award to assist in developing the plant.
It was the largest award given up to that date by the DOE's Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI). One investor in the project is CW NextGen, Inc., a
Clayton Williams
Clayton Wheat "Claytie" Williams Jr. (October 8, 1931 – February 14, 2020) was an American businessman from Midland, Texas who ran for governor in 1990. Despite securing the Republican nomination and initially leading in the polls against Demo ...
company.
Funding for the project was cancelled in February of 2016 for reasons explained in a DOE Inspector General report.
History
In 2007, Odessa had been considered one of four candidate sites for a
FutureGen Industrial Alliance project, “a public-private partnership to design, build, and operate the world's first coal-fueled, near-zero emissions power plant”.
According to the FutureGen website, the DOE issued its Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in November 2007, concluding that the Odessa site was acceptable from an environmental impact standpoint and could move forward in the site evaluation process. FutureGen ultimately selected another site, Mattoon, Illinois, as the final site.
After the decision was made, DOE representatives performed another similar site study at Odessa to determine if the site could qualify for funds from the Clean Coal Power Initiative. The Texas Clean Energy Project was later awarded $350 million from CCPI.
Summit then announced plans in April 2008 to construct TCEP, a 600 megawatt IGCC coal-fired power plant in
West Texas
West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio.
No consensus exists on the boundary betwee ...
, located in the Permian Basin. This area was considered to be an ideal geographic location due to the local oil and gas companies using enhanced oil recovery via
carbon dioxide flooding Carbon dioxide (CO2) flooding is a process whereby carbon dioxide is injected into oil reservoirs in order to increase output when extracting oil, especially in reservoirs where production rates have declined over time. The process was first attemp ...
.
On June 22, 2009, a new Texas law, HB 469, was passed and signed by the governor. HB 469 offers significant financial incentives to the first three clean-coal power plants built in Texas that capture at least 50 percent of their carbon dioxide.
Summit formally launched a front-end engineering design (FEED) study on June 30, 2010, and later awarded the FEED contract to Siemens Energy to be the primary equipment provider. Other participants in the FEED study include
Fluor Corporation
Fluor Corporation is an American multinational engineering and construction firm headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a holding company that provides services through its subsidiaries in the following areas: oil and gas, industrial and infrastru ...
(the design engineer) and Selas Fluid Processing Corporation, a
Linde Group
Linde plc is a global multinational chemical company founded in Germany and, since 2018, domiciled in Ireland and headquartered in the United Kingdom. Linde is the world's largest industrial gas company by market share and revenue. It serves ...
subsidiary. Construction is currently scheduled to begin on the project in the second half of 2011 upon completion of the FEED study.
TCEP was scheduled to achieve financial closing and commence construction in December 2010, but was delayed. The project seemed ready in 2012 at an estimated cost of $2.2 billion, but the Chinese company
Sinopec
China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (中国石油化工股份有限公司) or Sinopec (), is a Chinese oil and gas enterprise based in Beijing. It is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai.
Sinopec Limited's parent, Sinopec Gr ...
signed on and requested a new FEED study. Cost estimates went to $3.5 billion due to increased labor costs. The labor market was tight due to an oil boom in the Permian Basin. Summit Power Group had not released the new FEED study results as of February 2015 and the future of the projects is in doubt.
Leadership
Former Dallas mayor
Laura Miller
Laura Miller (born November 18, 1958) is an American journalist and politician who served as the 58th mayor of Dallas, Texas from 2002 through 2007. She decided not to run for re-election in 2007. She was the third woman to serve as mayor of Da ...
served as Director of Projects, Texas, while former Secretary of Energy
Don Hodel served as Chairman and Senior Vice President for Strategy and Policy at Summit Power Group, Inc.
References
External links
Texas Clean Energy Project websiteSummit Energy Group, Inc website Clean Coal Power Initiative website
{{coord missing, Texas
Ector County, Texas
Proposed coal-fired power stations in the United States