AEP’s plans for “clean-coal” power plant plans lack greenhouse gas capture technology

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - A $2.2 billion “clean” coal-fired power plant proposed for West Virginia won’t initially include controls to capture and pump greenhouse gases underground.
    American Electric Power subsidiary Appalachian Power won state approval last week to build a 687-megawatt Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle plant in Mason County. The IGCC plant is considered cleaner because it produces electricity by burning gas made from coal.
    While the plant is expected to release less sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide and mercury, it won’t be outfitted with a unit to capture and pump carbon dioxide underground, AEP spokeswoman Melissa McHenry said Monday.
    “The IGCC plant that we are building will not have carbon capture technology initially,“ she said. The plant, however, will be designed to add such a unit if Congress takes action to control carbon dioxide releases.
    Coal-fired power plants are a major source of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases allow sunlight in, but trap the Earth’s heat. Controlling such emissions has been at the center of debates on building new generating stations to meet increasing power needs.
    Clean Air Task Force had urged the West Virginia Public Service Commission to require AEP to say when it eventually planned to capture carbon dioxide emissions. The PSC rejected the request.
    A group spokesman told the Sunday Gazette-Mail that despite the rejection, the AEP plant will set “an impressive precedent.“
    “We see this step as an important step and the next step in carbon capture,“ said Mike Fowler, technical coordinator for the group’s coal transition project.
    AEP’s plant is to be built adjacent to the utility’s 1,300-megawatt Mountaineer generating station. AEP is planning to install a limited carbon dioxide pump storage system at the Mountaineer plant next year if tests at a Wisconsin plant are favorable, McHenry said.
    The project also needs approval from the Virginia State Corporation Commission and an air permit from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection before construction can begin. Virginia’s approval is needed because Appalachian Power’s customers in that state would help pay for construction of the plant. A decision is expected in April.
    The state PSC has given Appalachian Power approval to increase its rates over the next four years to fund construction of the plant. The average customer in West Virginia will pay an additional $7.70 a month in the fourth year of the increase.
    John Benedict, who directs DEP’s air quality office, said Monday that the agency is still reviewing AEP’s permit application for the IGCC plant.