CTL plans unveiled
By Aaron LeClair
Boomerang Staff Writer
laramieboomerang.com
The last of a series of community meetings concerning the construction of a $2 billion coal-to-liquids plant near Elk Mountain took place in Laramie on Thursday.
Residents from Albany and Carbon counties gathered in the Hampton Inn to listen to a 30-minute presentation by Jon C. Doyle, chief operations officer for DKRW Energy, and Tom Schroeder, principal of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality’s Industrial Siding Permit Application Process.
The presentation was on Medicine Bow Fuel and Power, the coal-to-liquid (CTL) facility that is to be built five miles north of Elk Mountain starting in 2008.
The plant would use Fischer-Tropsch technology to transform coal and water into ultra-low sulfur diesel, which is to be sold to the Sinclair Oil Co., Medicine Bow Fuel and Power spokesperson Kate Perez said.
“Wyoming has such a legacy when it comes to energy,” she said. “This is a great investment. It’s the right plant at the right time.”
Doyle said the current high gasoline prices have made a CTL plant a good investment now because they will be turning relatively cheap coal into expensive diesel fuel.
In addition to the diesel, the gasification process would create carbon dioxide, which could be trapped and sold to companies for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects.
Currently, they are in the study and design phase, Doyle said, with construction scheduled to begin in the second quarter of next year.
Doyle said they expect to hire 2,000 workers to develop the underground coalmine and to construct the CTL plant, which should take about three years to finish.
Doyle said they would look to hire construction workers from the communities closest to the plant, which includes Laramie, Rawlins, Hanna and Elk Mountain.
“We’ll need people with skill sets from everything from earthwork and steel to electrical work,” he said.
When the CTL plant goes online in 2011, Doyle said they would need about 300 full-time, permanent operators, supervisors and employees to run both the plant and the coal mine.
Benefits and safety
In addition to creating jobs for the construction and subsequent operation of the CTL plant, Doyle said the project would boost local property, severance and ad valorem taxes.
Furthermore, Medicine Bow Fuel and Power will offer internships and training programs to attract employees, while cultivating research and development initiatives with the University of Wyoming and its EOR Institute.
There is also the issue of energy independence. Doyle said Medicine Bow Fuel and Power would be one step in lessening America’s dependency on foreign oil.
“Much of our oil comes from areas of the world that aren’t exactly friendly,” he said.
Like DKRW’s other projects, Medicine Bow Fuel and Power will be environmentally friendly.
The CTL plant will be a closed-loop system. This means the byproducts of the gasification process would be captured and either sold (the carbon dioxide) or fed back into the system (the steam and tail and fuel gases) to power the plant, Doyle said.
In order to obtain a permit, Medicine Bow Fuel and Power has to meet more than 14 environmental regulations. Doyle said they would continually monitor the facility to ensure it meets DEQ and OSHA requirements.
Challenges
Doyle said the biggest challenge they face is finding housing for the 2,000 construction workers they will need to build the CTL plant. The construction is scheduled to take place from 2008-2011.
Currently, they are working on building temporary housing near the site that could accommodate up to 500 workers at a time, he said.
Additionally, local communities are being studied to determine what level of temporary housing they could provide.
Meanwhile, the remaining workers would be bused into the area to minimize traffic and parking requirements.
Another major challenge is to find enough qualified engineers, technicians and supervisors to run the CTL plant.
One unidentified man who was sitting in the crowd suggested hiring chemical engineers who graduate from the university and leave Wyoming for career opportunities.
For more information about DKRW Energy and Medicine Bow Fuel and Power, visit www.dkrwenergy.com and www.dkrwadvancedfuels.com.
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Coal-to-diesel plant details emerge
By Gazette News Services
billingsgazette.net
RAWLINS - Construction of a proposed plant in eastern Carbon County to turn coal into diesel will take three years, $2 billion and 2,000 temporary workers, a company official said.
Kate Perez, spokeswoman for Medicine Bow Fuel & Power LLC, said the proposed plant is pegged to sit at the mouth of an underground coal mine that is located seven miles north of Interstate 80 between Hanna, Medicine Bow and Elk Mountain.
Medicine Bow Fuel and Power is a subsidiary of DKRW Advanced Fuels LLC, the main company behind the plant.
The coal would be converted into ultra-low-sulfur diesel, among other things.
A coal-gasification process would turn the coal into synthetic gas, which would then be cleaned so nearly all of the sulfur and carbon dioxide are removed. The syngas would then be liquefied.
Sinclair Oil Co. has agreed to purchase the diesel.
Once the plant is completed, which is projected for 2011, it should employ about 300 permanent workers, including accountants, security employees, heavy equipment operators, miners, mechanics, engineers, lab technicians and a host of other positions.
"We plan to offer job training, which people get excited about," Perez said Tuesday during a public meeting about the plant. "They may say, 'Hey, I don't want to work at McDonald's anymore, I'd like to be a welder.' We can help them do that."
As with many companies in Carbon County, Perez said Medicine Bow Fuel & Power is concerned about housing the temporary and permanent workers who may not already live in the area, Perez said.
Perez said Medicine Bow Fuel & Power is considering temporary housing facilities, commonly known as man camps, that could house up to 500 people on site during peak construction times and winter months.
The company also is considering a chartered busing service to take workers from areas around Carbon County to the coal-to-liquids plant, she said.
DKRW has numerous environmental permits it must obtain in order to proceed with construction. |
