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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gasification Technologies -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (95)	12/7/2005 6:13:42 AM
From: Dennis Roth	Respond to of 1740

Board awards millions for coal projects By David Porter Managing Editor morningsentinel.com MT. VERNON — Two area coal projects were awarded $4 million in grants late last week by the Illinois Clean Coal Review Board. Sen. John O. Jones, R-Mt. Vernon, said the board met by conference call and agreed to give $2 million each to Power Holdings for its Jefferson County project and to Peabody Energy for its project in Washington County. Jones said that the money will help speed up the process for both projects and will enable them to obtain additional financing. It “sends a message to banks and the financial world that Illinois is behind these projects,” he said Monday. The Clean Coal Review Board was established at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale with a $25 million gift from Commonwealth Edison. The Chicago-based utility company gave the school the money to help develop projects using clean coal technology. The money is derived from the sale of the company’s fossil fuel generating stations. Most of the board members for the CCRB are Southern Illinois legislators. The Power Holdings project is a $1 billion coal gasification plant that will include a new coal mine. Coal from the site would then be converted, through a gasification process, into synthetic natural gas, which would then be piped to the Chicago area, according to Sentinel archives. Coal gasification removes the sulfur that plagues Illinois coal and produces a clean gas. The process can also be used to produce liquid fuels and hydrogen, although that is not part of Power Holdings’ current plan. Earlier this year, the Illinois General Assembly passed legislation that will allow Power Holdings to enter into long-term rate agreements with utility companies. Jones said that Power Holdings said it would repay the grant money although repayment is not required. He added that Power Holdings would receive $1.7 million soon with the remaining $300,000 disbursed after the company obtains additional financing. The Peabody project also includes a new coal mine. It is a mine-mouth electric generation project. It has been named the Prairie State Energy Campus and will be located near Lively Grove. Company officials have said the emissions from the electric plant will be far below the average for Illinois. Nitrogen oxide emissions will be 78 percent below the state average, the company promises. It will use 6 million tons of coal mined on-site to produce 1,500 megawatts of electricity. The two projects are expected to generate more than 700 full-time jobs and as many as 2,000 construction jobs.

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (95)	7/16/2006 12:31:40 PM
From: Dennis Roth	Respond to of 1740

Coal Gasification Plant in Jefferson County Takes Another Step Forward 07/15/06 wjbdradio.com Both Ameren and Nicor Gas Companies are set to announce they will purchase natural synthetic gas from the energy company currently developing a coal gasification facility in Jefferson County. State Representative Kurt Granberg says the milestone announcement will be made next Thursday. He reports it will move the Power Holdings LLC Illinois facility and its anticipated 15-hundred jobs a step closer to reality. Granberg says developing clean-burning Illinois Coal is critical to protection of national security and putting people back to work. He adds as the foreign energy market becomes more volatile, it's important that new ways be found to increase domestic energy production. Granberg notes the purchase agreement follows three years of intense negotiations and is possible because of a state senate bill initiated by Granberg that authorizes gas utilities to enter into long-term contracts with companies producing synthetic natural gas from coal through the gasification process. Granberg notes consumers will also save money because transportation expenses and dependence on costly out of state providers can be reduced. The President of Power Holdings LLC Robert Gilpin is applauding Granberg's efforts and says in the coming years those efforts will result in creation of over 15-hundred local jobs. The official announcement of the purchase contracts are set for next Thursday in both Springfield and Mt. Vernon.

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (95)	7/21/2006 7:49:04 AM
From: Dennis Roth	Respond to of 1740

Plans for $1.3 billion Illinois coal-to-gas plant advance JIM SUHR Associated Press Posted on Thu, Jul. 20, 2006 belleville.com ST. LOUIS - Plans for a $1.3 billion plant that would convert Illinois coal into synthetic natural gas are moving ahead now that two energy companies have pledged to buy much of the gas, officials announced Thursday. Ameren Corp. and Nicor Gas Inc. reached 20-year deals with project developer Power Holdings LLC to buy roughly two-thirds of the gas produced by the plant, which promises nearly 1,500 jobs - about two-thirds of them in construction - and new markets for Illinois coal. Power Holdings now can begin lining out private financing for the project, with construction likely to begin next year on 170 acres of farmland just east of Waltonville in Illinois' Jefferson County, Power Holdings president Bob Gilpin said. The plant, using technology known as coal gasification, could be running by 2010 or 2011, provided it gets an air permit it is seeking from the state, he said. "This is huge news because a project of this magnitude cannot be financed without long-term offtake agreements," Gilpin said. Prospects of arranging financing "are hard to handicap, but we couldn't be anywhere without this." St. Louis-based Ameren serves 1.2 million customers in southern and central Illinois. Nicor Gas, based in Naperville, Ill., near Chicago, has more than 2 million customers in 641 northern Illinois communities. Power Holdings expects to produce about 50 billion cubic feet of the synthetic gas a year, equating to about 5 percent of Illinois' demand, Gilpin said. A measure pushed by state Rep. Kurt Granberg, D-Carlyle, and signed into law last year paved the way for Power Holdings. The legislation amended the state's Public Utilities Act to let gas utilities enter into 20-year supply contracts with any synthetic natural gas producer that starts construction in Illinois by mid-2008 and uses the type of coal common in Illinois. Unless state utility regulators deem the cost of the gas unreasonable, they cannot easily prevent the contract from going through. The contractual guarantees are meant to help developers get financing for new projects. Creating synthetic natural gas will allow suppliers to use existing coal mines, which would reduce transportation costs and dependence on costly out-of-state providers, Granberg said. Volatility in foreign energy also makes finding new ways to increase domestic energy production more pressing, he said. With crude oil soaring past $70 a barrel, "this is market-driven where it's now economically viable to engage in these types of projects," he said. "We're very much excited about the potential." Gilpin has said he expects the plant to use 3.5 million tons of Illinois coal a year. ON THE NET Ameren Corp., ameren.com Nicor Gas, nicor.com

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (95)	11/9/2007 8:45:06 AM
From: Dennis Roth	Respond to of 1740

New Billion Dollar Plant Could Bring Jobs to S. IL 11-08-07 wjbdradio.com Democratic State Representative from Carlyle, Kurt Grandberg announced today that the Jefferson County Based coal gasification plant operated by Power Holdings has applied for a construction permit from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Power Holdings plans to start construction of a billion-dollar plant to produce synthetic natural gas from Illinois coal. In a written statement released Thursday, Representative Granberg said"This revolutionary project will have numerous benefits for Southern Illinois." End quote. One major benefit is the creation of new jobs. The project is estimated to create 400 new coal mining jobs, 200 permanent jobs and another 12-hundred construction jobs over a three year period.