Troubled Coal-Fired Plant Could Get New Lifeline

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: The Wall Street Journal.

Troubled Coal-Fired Plant Could Get New Lifeline

Congress weighs tax-credit incentives that could benefit Southern Co. project

By Rebecca Smith

[e-mail]

Updated Dec. 21, 2016 10:47 a.m. ET

The most expensive fossil-fuel power plant ever built in the U.S. could soon get a financial lifeline thanks to President-elect Donald Trump, who has signaled interest in clean-coal initiatives as a way to preserve mining jobs.

Buoyed by Mr. Trumps enthusiasm for the U.S. coal industry, several congressional proposals seek to boost tax breaks for facilities that can capture carbon dioxide, a dangerous greenhouse gas that is a byproduct of fossil-fuel combustion, and offer it to the oil industry for injection underground to stimulate production. The biggest winnerat least initiallycould be Southern Co.s Kemper County, Miss., power plant, a facility designed to capture about 65% of its carbon-dioxide emissions and sell it to oil companies, which use it to help extract crude from wells.

Construction and technology snafus have doubled the cost of the Kemper project since it was approved in 2010, to nearly $7 billion. The power plant is scheduled to achieve full commercial operation early next year.

Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/troubled-coal-fired-plant-could-get-new-lifeline-1482321602

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[hibbing]

1. How forward looking

This is just the start, I fear for our environment.

Peace

[yeoman6987]

4. In the article it says it can capture the carbon that happens in coal mines

The main objection to using coal is carbon dioxide and if we find a solution to that then really there is no objecting the use of coal.

[hibbing]

5. Thanks

That's what I get for not reading the whole thing.

Peace

[yeoman6987]

8. Have a good one! I do it all the time!!!!!

[yellowcanine]

9. Th main thing hurting coal right now is it is not cost competitive.

Factoring in the costs of the subsidies/tax credits this makes coal less cost competitive with other forms of energy. Plus there are other things in coal which need to be "scrubbed out" such as sulfur, adding even more costs. Not clear how this is progress.

[briv1016]

10. Entropy

The containment will eventually fail and we'll be SOL. I hope the money was worth it.

[NickB79]

13. Except the CO2 is used to extract more oil from old oil fields

Which kinda defeats the purpose altogether of reducing carbon emissions.

[packman]

2. Oh, great news

Tax break for coal power plants capturing 65% ( leaving us with a meager 35% - damn them) and selling it to oil companies so they can frack, frack, and frack some more. Living in wonderful times.

[briv1016]

11. To be accurate,

the coal industry mostly uses mountain top removal techniques which result in surface water pollution. Wouldn't want to miscategorize the devistation to come.

[Scruffy1]

3. It will make no difference.

At the current natural gas prices no one is going to build a new coal plant. The maintenance costs on coal plants are much higher than natural gas plants and I would assume the maintenance costs of a co capturing plant would be even higher than a standard plant.

[briv1016]

12. That's why they are subsidized.

Have to make sure all sectors of the carbon industry get a piece of the pie.

[msongs]

6. another giant welfare scam to save an obsolete industry. nt

[exboyfil]

7. I remember reading about this

$7B will buy a hell of lot of solar panels.

Who allows a 3X cost overrun. The Obama administration should have collected some scalps on this one.

Actually the agreement was signed during Bush's administration.

https://energy.gov/articles/doe-awards-235-million-southern-company-build-clean-coal-plant

Here is a story on why the overruns.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/05/science/kemper-coal-mississippi.html?_r=0


Capacity at completion is 524 MW.