OHIO SPOTLIGHT -- Site Selection magazine, May 2006

Ohio in the Running for
Clean-Energy Plant

In early April 2006, Ohio bolstered its bid to land the U.S. Department of Energy's US$1 billion FutureGen project by making new funds available with which to compete with other locations for the plant. FutureGen would be the world's first coal-based power plant to produce electricity and hydrogen with near-zero emissions. The 275-megawatt plant will produce hydrogen for use as a clean fuel source and test the ability to store large amounts of carbon dioxide deep underground rather than releasing it into the air.

   On April 4th, Gov. Bob Taft signed House Bill 440, which appropriates $1 million in general revenue funds to support the drilling of a test well to provide geological data as part of its bid to win the project. Among Ohio's competitors for the project are Texas, Illinois, North Dakota, Kansas and neighboring Kentucky. As of March 31, 2006, nine states representing 22 sites had expressed interest in hosting the FutureGen project, which will create 100 full-time research and facility jobs and 1,000 construction jobs.
   "Ohio has the strategic location, the coal and the work force to make FutureGen a success," noted the governor at the bill-signing ceremony. "With these funds, we increase our competitive advantage and show that Ohio means business when it comes to clean energy."
   Clean coal research and development already is under way in Ohio, as is research on fuel cell technology. Much of Ohio's case for winning the project surrounds the state's geological attributes and 250 years of coal reserves. Ohio is the third-largest consumer of coal in the U.S. and is ranked fourth in industrial energy consumption. Nearly 90 percent of all electricity produced in the state is generated from coal.

High Profile Project

   The state that wins the FutureGen plant will see substantial investment in its energy sector and increased exposure on the world energy stage. Announced in 2003 by President Bush as part of his Advanced Energy Initiative, FutureGen is a public-private partnership involving the Dept. of Energy (DOE) and a consortium of industrial coal producers and electric utilities known as the FutureGen Industrial Alliance.
   Also on board are state governments and international participants. On April 3rd, the DOE signed an agreement with the government of India that makes it the first country to join the United States on the government steering committee for the FutureGen Initiative. The agreement was a topic of discussion during President Bush's visit with Indian Prime Minister Singh in early March. Under the agreement, India will contribute $10 million to the initiative, and private-sector Indian interests will likely play a role in due course. Besides India, British and Chinese interests are represented in the FutureGen Industrial Alliance.
   According to the DOE, FutureGen will initiate operations around 2012 and will be the first plant in the world to produce electricity and commercial-grade hydrogen from coal simultaneously. Technologies for testing at the prototype plant could lead to power plants that are fuel-flexible and capable of multi-product output and electrical efficiencies over 60 percent.
   In recent weeks, the point has been raised that FutureGen could overshadow the president's Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI), which was introduced in 2001 as part of his Clear Skies Initiative to cut sulphur, nitrogen and mercury pollutants from power plants by nearly 70 percent by 2018.
   "I don't agree," Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman told a gathering of the National Coal Council in Washington, D.C., in March. "My view is that while these may be separate projects on paper, they are not separate technologies. Every step we make toward perfecting the technology of FutureGen brings us that much closer to our goals for affordable clean coal. My view is that the CCPI and FutureGen are not mutually exclusive, but in fact are complementary."
   The DOE is expected to announce a site for the FutureGen project in mid-2007.

– Mark Arend