Duke Energy Indiana Update on Coal Gasification
(Edwardsport, IN) Duke Energy Indiana says modifications and a growth in the scope of its Edwardsport coal gasification plant will add approximately $150 million to the project's $2.35 billion cost.
The company filed the information with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission as it works to figure out how much rates might need to be tweaked to complete the project.
The company says engineering has required more steel, piping, electric cable and other materials than originally expected.
It's the first time the technology has been used on this scale, and there's not much guidance on size and quantity of materials until the building process.
Duke Energy previously estimated the project would result in an average 18 percent customer rate increase between 2009 and 2013. By March, the company will file revised rate impact estimates.
The approximately 630-megawatt plant will use advanced gasification technology. It will produce 10 times as much power as the existing plant at Edwardsport, yet it will emit less sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury than the much smaller plant it replaces.
Due to the plant's superior efficiency, it also will emit 45 percent less carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour than the existing facility.
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RNS-11-25-09 0620CST