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FutureGen
Archive
- DOE News Release of Restructured FutureGen Draft Funding Opportunity
(May 7, 2008)
- Restructured FutureGen Draft Funding Opportunity Announcement
- DOE January 2008 Announcement on FutureGen Restructuring
- FutureGen Factsheet (January 2008)
- DOE February 2003 Announcement
- A Restructured Approach
On February 27, 2003, the federal government announced FutureGen, a $1 billion initiative to create a coal-based power plant focused on demonstrating a revolutionary clean coal technology that would produce hydrogen and electricity and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The FutureGen project was initiated in response to the National Energy Policy of May 2001, which emphasized the need for diverse and secure energy sources that could largely be provided by America's most abundant domestic energy resource, coal.
While FutureGen's goal for a technological solution to produce electricity from coal in an environmentally responsible way remains the same, the estimated cost of the FutureGen project has risen sharply and could have risen even higher. However, technological advancements over the past five years have allowed a restructuring of FutureGen to evolve from a large-scale R&D testing lab to multiple commercial-scale demonstration plants.
FutureGen's restructured approach proposes federal funding to demonstrate cutting-edge CCS technology at multiple commercial-scale integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) coal power plants. It includes engagement with the international community which will remain integral to advancing CCS technology on a global scale. Under this approach, multiple commercial plants would each produce at least 300 megawatts of electricity and jointly these projects will capture and safely sequester at least double the amount of carbon dioxide annually compared to the concept announced in 2003.
The restructured approach will focus on separating carbon dioxide (CO2) for CCS, and does not include hydrogen production, which the concept announced in 2003 included. Hydrogen production for commercial use will remain an important component of the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative and other research initiatives aimed at fundamentally changing the way we power our vehicles.
The success of federally-sponsored R&D in IGCC and CCS technologies has made FutureGen's accelerated, restructured approach possible. This approach will provide more electricity from multiple clean coal plants, at least twice as much CO2 sequestered, a more cost-effective strategy to limit taxpayer exposure to escalating costs, and provide for wider use and more rapid commercialization of CCS technology than the concept announced in 2003. This more focused approach provides an all-around better investment for U.S. taxpayers.
- Request for Information
DOE has issued a Request for Information (RFI) that seeks industry's input by March 3, 2008, on the costs and feasibility associated with building clean coal facilities that achieve the intended goals of FutureGen. Following consideration of industry comment, DOE intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement - or competitive solicitation - to provide federal funding under cooperative agreements to equip commercial power plants designed for IGCC (or other clean coal technology) that generate at least 300 megawatts with CCS technology This will accelerate near-term technology deployment and allow commercial operation to begin in the 2015-2016 timeframe. Initial input from industry will assist in determining how many demonstrations can be commissioned.
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