FutureGen selects Mattoon, Ill as home for future clean coal plant

The FutureGen Alliance, a collective of some of the world's largest electric and coal companies, has selected Mattoon, Ill., as the site for its federally-funded cleaner coal plant.

The FutureGen Alliance plant, said to be a near-zero emissions endeavor, would generate electricity using coal gasification. Excess CO2 would then be converted into a supercritical fluid and injected into the ground at the rate of 1 million to 2.5 million metric tons per year.

 
The FutureGen Alliance plant will cost more than $1.5 billion to construct. It's being jointly funded by federal, state and local government, plus a $400 million capital injection by the companies.

FutureGen is a public-private partnership to design, build, and operate the world's first coal-fueled, near-zero emissions power plant, at an estimated net project cost of US $1.5 billion. The commercial-scale plant will prove the technical and economic feasibility of producing low-cost electricity and hydrogen from coal while nearly eliminating emissions. It will also support testing and commercialization of technologies focused on generating clean power, capturing and permanently storing carbon dioxide, and producing hydrogen. In the process, FutureGen will create unique opportunities for scientific exploration, education, and stakeholder engagement