OUC Breaks Ground on Clean Coal Plant
Publication Date: 9/10/2007
Pioneering Unit Will Reduce Emissions, Increase Efficiency
ORLANDO – Department of Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman joined OUC Board President Lonnie Bell and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer as well as representatives from Southern Company and KBR Inc. today to celebrate the groundbreaking for a first-of-its-kind integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant.
The advanced 285-megawatt unit located at OUC’s Stanton Energy Center will be among the cleanest, most efficient coal-fueled power plants in the world.
“This groundbreaking represents a significant milestone in the President’s Clean Coal Power Initiative, which aims to reduce emissions and improve the efficiency of existing and new coal-based power plants,” Secretary Bodman said. “Coal is America’s most abundant resource and through a combination of government incentives and private sector support for advanced coal technologies, we are working to further harness America’s technological strength in developing clean, secure, affordable and reliable supplies of energy.”
The Stanton unit, which will help meet OUC’s growing energy needs, will turn coal into synthetic gas for generating electricity, while significantly reducing emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury. It also will produce 20-25 percent less carbon dioxide emissions than our existing pulverized coal plants and consume about half the water required by a pulverized coal plant.
“At OUC, we are proud of our record for environmental stewardship. Each of our plants incorporated the best available environmental technology at the time of construction,” Bell said. “The IGCC project is another important step forward, taking our commitment further by participating in the demonstration of a new, cleaner technology.”
Southern Company will operate the facility through its Southern Power subsidiary, which builds, owns and manages the company’s competitive generation assets. Commercial operation is scheduled for June 2010.
Established in 1923 by a special act of the Florida Legislature, OUC—The Reliable One is the second largest municipal utility in Florida. OUC provides electric and water services to more than 200,000 customers in Orlando, St. Cloud and parts of unincorporated Orange and Osceola counties.
Go Back To The Listing