01 POWER ISLAND / 04 CO2 capture / Trailblazer-history of the project
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Report to the
Global CCS Institute
Development of the
Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center
Final Report
DISCLAIMERS
This Report and the contents hereof (collectively, this “Report”) are being provided pursuant to and in accordance with that certain Funding Agreement by and between the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute Ltd. and Tenaska, Inc. (the “Funding Agreement”). Except as otherwise explicitly stated in the Funding Agreement, the provisions of the Funding Agreement are for the sole protection and legal benefit of the parties thereto, and their permitted successors and assigns, and no other person or entity shall be a direct or indirect beneficiary of, or have any direct or indirect cause of action or claim against, any party arising from the Funding Agreement or the publication, disclosure or distribution of this Report.
This Report does not constitute the provision of engineering or design services or advice and should not be utilized or relied on by any person or entity as engineering or design services or advice. For the avoidance of doubt, neither Tenaska, Inc., Tenaska Trailblazer Partners LLC, nor their affiliates shall be liable to any third party for any harm or loss associated with utilization of or reliance on this Report.
Abstract
This paper discusses the development of the Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center, a supercritical pulverized coal electric generating station under development in Nolan County, Texas, United States. The site is located approximately nine miles east of Sweetwater, Texas and it is expected to be the first new-build coal plant to incorporate a commercial-scale carbon dioxide capture plant into the initial design. This report describes the history of the project development and looks at some of the key challenges being faced by the Project, including permitting, water supply and financing.
Development of the
Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center
Table of Contents
1.0INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. |
1 |
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2.0PURPOSE AND GOALS ....................................................................................... |
3 |
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3.0EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................ |
4 |
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3.1 |
Public Acceptance........................................................................................................... |
4 |
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3.2 |
Air Permit |
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4 |
3.3 |
Electric Transmission Interconnection ......................................................................... |
4 |
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3.4 |
Water................................................................................................................................. |
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5 |
3.5 |
Contractor and Technology Selection........................................................................... |
5 |
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3.6 |
Partner Selection ............................................................................................................. |
5 |
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3.7 |
Financing.......................................................................................................................... |
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5 |
4.0OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................ |
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7 |
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4.1 |
Project Overview ............................................................................................................. |
7 |
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4.1.1 ......... |
General ........................................................................................................................ |
7 |
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4.1.2 ......... |
Emission Controls ........................................................................................................ |
8 |
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4.1.3 ......... |
Economic Benefits ..................................................................................................... |
10 |
4.2 |
Developer Overview ...................................................................................................... |
10 |
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4.3 |
Partner Overview ........................................................................................................... |
12 |
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5.0PROJECT INCEPTION........................................................................................ |
13 |
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5.1 |
Expected CO2 Legislation ............................................................................................. |
13 |
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5.2 |
Emerging CO2 Markets.................................................................................................. |
13 |
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5.3 |
National Energy Security .............................................................................................. |
14 |
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5.3.1 ......... |
Continuing Use of Coal .............................................................................................. |
14 |
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5.3.2 ......... |
Production of CO2 for EOR ........................................................................................ |
15 |
5.4 |
Pulverized Coal vs IGCC Technologies....................................................................... |
16 |
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5.4.1 ......... |
Powder River Basin Coal Supply................................................................................ |
16 |
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5.4.2 ......... |
Elevation .................................................................................................................... |
16 |
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5.4.3 ......... |
CO2 Capture Economics ............................................................................................ |
16 |
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5.4.4 ......... |
Technology Risk......................................................................................................... |
16 |
6.0SITE SELECTION.............................................................................................. |
17 |
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6.1 |
Decision to Build in Texas............................................................................................ |
17 |
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6.1.1 ......... |
Electricity Demand ..................................................................................................... |
17 |
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6.1.2 ......... |
Texas Clean Energy Legislation................................................................................. |
17 |
6.2 |
Key Factors in Site Selection ....................................................................................... |
18 |
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6.3 |
Project Site..................................................................................................................... |
19 |
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7.0PROJECT DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................. |
20 |
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7.1 |
Community Reaction..................................................................................................... |
20 |
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7.1.1 ......... |
Community Outreach ................................................................................................. |
20 |
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7.1.2 ......... |
Community Support ................................................................................................... |
21 |
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7.1.3 ......... |
Community Concerns................................................................................................. |
21 |
7.2 |
Air Permit |
....................................................................................................................... |
21 |
7.3 |
Electric Transmission Interconnection ....................................................................... |
22 |
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7.4 |
Water Supply.................................................................................................................. |
23 |
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7.4.1 ......... |
City of Sweetwater ..................................................................................................... |
23 |
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7.4.2 ......... |
City of Abilene ............................................................................................................ |
23 |
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7.4.3 ......... |
Key Learnings from This Experience.......................................................................... |
24 |
7.5 |
Selection of EPC Contractor ........................................................................................ |
26 |
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7.6 |
Partner Selection ........................................................................................................... |
26 |
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7.6.1 ......... |
Overview .................................................................................................................... |
26 |
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7.6.2 ......... |
Selection of Arch Coal................................................................................................ |
26 |
7.7 |
Selection of Carbon Capture Technology................................................................... |
27 |
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7.8 |
Markets ........................................................................................................................... |
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27 |
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7.8.1 ......... |
Electricity.................................................................................................................... |
28 |
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7.8.2 ......... |
Carbon Dioxide .......................................................................................................... |
28 |
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7.8.3 ......... |
By-products ................................................................................................................ |
29 |
7.9 |
Financing........................................................................................................................ |
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29 |
7.10 |
Next Steps ...................................................................................................................... |
30 |
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8.0RELEVANCE TO CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE............................................. |
31 |
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9.0CONCLUSIONS................................................................................................. |
32 |
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10.0 ACRONYMS AND CITATIONS ....................................................................... |
33 |
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10.1 |
Acronyms ....................................................................................................................... |
33 |
10.2 |
Citations ......................................................................................................................... |
35 |
EXHIBITS
Exhibit 1 Press Release Announcing Dry Cooling (April 6, 2010)
Exhibit 2 Press Release Announcing Agreement with EDF (April 19, 2010)
Exhibit 3 Press Release Announcing Selection of Fluor as EPC Contractor (June 18, 2009)
Exhibit 4 Press Release Announcing Partnership Share to Arch Coal (March 11, 2010)
Exhibit 5 Press Release Announcing Selection of Fluor as CO2 Technology Provider (July 26, 2010)
Exhibit 6 Press Release Announcing Receipt of Final Air Quality Permits (December 14, 2010)
1.0 Introduction
The Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center (Trailblazer or Project) is a 760 MW gross, 600 MW net supercritical pulverized coal-fueled electric generating station under development in Nolan County, Texas, United States. The Project site is located approximately nine miles east of Sweetwater, Texas. The Project is expected to be the first new-build coal-fueled power plant to incorporate a commercial-scale carbon dioxide (CO2) capture plant into the initial design. It is being designed to capture 85 to 90 percent of the CO2 that otherwise would be emitted into the atmosphere.
This report discusses the Project’s development efforts from Project inception to the current date as shown by the following timeline:
2007
o Conceptual phase conducted
oTenaska Board approves development of the Project
February 2008
oSite procured
oAir permit application filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)
oElectric interconnection request filed with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)
oProject announced
July 2008
oLocal office in Sweetwater, Texas opened
September 2008
oERCOT issues its initial study of the Project’s interconnection request
January 2009
oNolan County tax abatement granted
February 2009
oTCEQ issues draft air permit for public comment
March 2009
oHospital district tax abatement granted
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May 2009
oTexas Legislature passes clean energy legislation that provides grants and tax incentives for carbon-fueled electric generating projects that capture at least 70 percent of the CO2 they otherwise would emit and meet stringent
air emission standards for nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter and mercury
oTexas Legislature passes legislation that establishes a framework for regulation of CO2 sequestration and storage
June 2009
oFluor Enterprises (Fluor) selected as Engineering, Construction and Procurement (EPC) contractor
July 2009
oTenaska requested direct referral of its air permit application to the Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings for a contested case hearing
March 2010
oArch Coal, Inc. (Arch Coal) purchases 35 percent share of Project
company
oProject signs a 20-year coal supply agreement with Arch Coal
April 2010
oTenaska commits to use of dry cooling technology
oTenaska signs settlement agreement with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)
June 2010
oTrailblazer signs a funding agreement with the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute (Global CCS Institute) to receive a $7 million (USD) grant
July 2010
oFluor Econamine FG Plussm carbon capture technology is selected
August 2010
oFluor begins the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) study for the carbon capture plant
December 2010
oTrailblazer Receives its final air permits from the TCEQ
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2.0Purpose and Goals
The purpose and goals of this paper are as follows:
To discuss the development of a coal-fueled power plant with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)
To discuss some of the key relationships necessary for the successful development of a coal-fueled power plant with CCS
To provide a high-level discussion of the rational for developing the Project
To discuss challenges encountered and lessons learned to date in the development of the Project.
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