Proposed IGCC Plant in Corpus Christi Questions TXU Myth That Technology Won't Work in Texas

 (October 4, 2006 – Austin) Houston-based Tondu Corporation recently filed an application with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality seeking a permit for a new IGCC (coal gasification) power plant on the Corpus Christi Ship Channel.
 
The story first ran in Wednesday’s Corpus Christi Caller Times (http://www.caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_5041535,00.html)
 
The 600-megawatt plant would generate enough electricity to power 600,000 homes.
 
This announcement stands in stark contrast to claims by another Texas utility, TXU, that IGCC technology is a “gleam in someone’s eye” and cannot be used in Texas. IGCC significantly reduces emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and mercury, runs more efficiently, produces 15% less carbon dioxide (CO2, the most plentiful greenhouse gas) and allows for the capture of carbon before it is emitted into the air.
 
Rather than exploring IGCC technology, TXU is proposing 11 1950s-style coal-fired power plants across Texas that will each produce, per megawatt, between three and six times the NOx and between six and 10 times the SO2 of the Tondu plant. TXU’s new plants will also produce 78 million new tons of CO2 each year.
 
Yesterday, Environmental Defense and 50 other environmental advocacy groups from across the country delivered to TXU CEO John Wilder a letter urging him to halt his rush to dirty coal. See the letter at http://www.stopTXU.com.
 
The following statements can be attributed to Jim Marston, regional director of Environmental Defense. He is available for comment at 512-478-5161.
 
“Contrary to TXU’s claim that IGCC can’t be used in Texas, Tondu plans to use it to construct the cleanest solid fueled power plant ever built. Either TXU executives aren’t up to speed on clean ways to generate electricity, or they are aware, but are choosing to build dirty coal plants anyway. Either way, TXU looks like an energy dinosaur that simply doesn’t understand Texas’ need to produce cleaner electricity.
 
“This announcement shows that there are cleaner energy alternatives to TXU’s dirty coal plants, and that IGCC is a cost-effective option for power companies in Texas.
 
“TXU’s plan of action is clear: build cheap and dirty plants, disregard the serious environmental and public health consequences, and charge customers higher, clean-energy rates. Tondu, on the other hand, proposes that it can use modern technology in Texas and still make a fair profit.
 
“IGCC emission standards are reasonable and achievable, and the TCEQ should only approve permits for new power plants like the Tondu IGCC plant and reject the dirtier, out-of-date technology proposed by TXU.
 

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