June 15, 2009

Secretary Chu Announces Advances to FutureGen Project

U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced June 12 that an agreement has been made with the FutureGen Alliance that will advance the construction of the carbon capture and sequestration project in Mattoon, Illinois.  Chu was quoted as saying, "This important step forward for FutureGen reflects this Administration's commitment to rapidly developing carbon capture and sequestration technology as apart of a comprehensive plan to create jobs, develop clean energy and reduce climate change pollution."
       Under the terms of the provisional agreement between the Department of Energy and the FutureGen Alliance, the Department will issue a Record of Decision on the project by the middle of July, with the following activities to be pursued from the end of July 2009 through early 2010:

• Rapid restart of preliminary design activities.
• Completion of a site-specific preliminary design and updated cost estimate.
• Expansion of the Alliance sponsorship group.
• Development of a complete funding plan.
• Potential additional subsurface characterization.

Following the completion of the detailed cost estimate and fundraising activities, the Department of Energy and the FutureGen Alliance will make a decision either to move forward or to discontinue the project early in 2010. The Department of Energy's total anticipated financial contribution for the project is $1.073 billion, $1 billion of which comes from Recovery Act funds for CCS research. The FutureGen Alliance's total anticipated financial contribution is $400 million to $600 million, based on a goal of 20 member companies each contributing a total of $20 million to $30 million over a four to six year period.

Zeus Syngas Refining Report