HUGE NEWS OUT!!!!
Illinois Power Agrees to Purchase SGI International's Upgraded Coal Product
LA JOLLA, Calif., May 25 /PRNewswire/ -- SGI International (OTC Bulletin
Board: SGII - news) and Illinois Power have executed an agreement for Illinois
Power to purchase all upgraded coal produced by SGI from the Liquids From Coal
(LFC) demonstration plant located near Gillette, Wyoming, which SGI is acquiring
from AEI Resources. Shipments under this agreement are expected to begin in early
2000 and continue through December 31, 2004. Pursuant to this agreement, SGI
has the option to divert up to 100,000 tons each year to other parties for test burns
in order to develop additional customers and markets for the upgraded coal. The
agreement also provides Illinois Power with an option to purchase up to 500,000
tons-per-year of upgraded coal from a large-scale commercial LFC plant at North
Rochelle.
SGI's upgraded coal is produced by subjecting sub-bituminous or lignite coals to a
patented pyrolysis process. Based on the operations of the demonstration plant, it is
expected that the upgraded coal will contain about 30% more Btu's and 25% less
sulfur than the feed coal. It will retain the low nitrous oxide attributes of the Powder
River Basin (PRB) feed coal. The process also produces, as a co-product, a
low-temperature coal tar that will be further processed into chemical feedstocks and
fuels to be sold to other parties.
Joseph A. Savoca, SGI Chairman/CEO stated, ''We appreciate Illinois Power's
acknowledgement of our product's ability to play a significant role in an energy
future that will be ever more economically competitive and environmentally
challenging. This progressive attitude provides SGI with the momentum to start up
the demonstration plant, develop product markets and then build a number of
commercial LFC plants.''
John Spencer, Director Fuel and Technical Services, Illinois Power said, ''SGI's
upgraded coal combines the clean burning attributes of PRB coals with the high-Btu
content of bituminous coals used by our Wood River and Havana Stations.''
SGI International's core business is developing, commercializing and licensing new
energy technologies. Its corporate headquarters are in La Jolla, California.
Illinois Power, an electric and natural gas utility, has approximately 3,800
megawatts of fossil-fueled generating capacity and serves 650,000 customers over
a 15,000-square-mile area of Illinois. It is a subsidiary of Illinova Corp. (NYSE:
ILN - news), headquartered in Decatur, Ill., an energy services holding company
with annual revenues of $2.4 billion.
This news release contains forward-looking statements. Actual results could vary
from those expected due to a variety of risk factors, including, but not limited to, the
completion of the acquisition from AEI Resources, the timely start up of the
demonstration plant, obtaining financing, producing upgraded coal to specifications
and marketing of the LFC products, as well as the other risks included in the
Company's 10KSB and other public filings.
SOURCE: SGI International |
