Department of Energy September 29, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces its decision to continue to provide financial support to the Texas Clean Energy Project (TCEP). DOE prepared an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) (DOE/EIS- 0444) to assess the environmental impacts associated with the TCEP, a project that Summit Texas Clean Energy, LLC (Summit) would design, construct, and operate. The project will demonstrate advanced power systems using integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) technology to generate 400 megawatts (gross) of electric power from coal and will put 130 to 213 megawatts on the power grid while capturing approximately 90 percent of its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The project will sequester approximately 2.5 to 3.0 million tons (2.3 to 2.7 million metric tonnes) of CO2 per year. The CO2 will be delivered through a regional pipeline network to existing oil fields in the Permian Basin of West Texas for use in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) by third-parties. The plant will also produce urea, argon, and sulfuric acid for sale in commercial markets. Because of its multiple products, the facility is referred to as a polygeneration (polygen) plant. The plant will be built on a 600-acre (243-hectare) oil field site in Ector County, Texas, north of the community of Penwell, and will continue in commercial operation for 30 to 50 years. DOE's proposed action, as described in the EIS, is to provide cost- shared financial assistance under DOE's Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI) using a combination of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (Pub. L. 111-5) funds and other CCPI program funds. After careful consideration of the potential environmental impacts and other factors such as program goals and objectives, DOE has decided to provide, through a cooperative agreement with Summit, $450 million in cost-shared funding, which is approximately 26 percent of the project's total capital cost of $1.73 billion (2009 dollars). The balance of project funding is expected to come from private sector investors and lenders.