The U.S. Department of Energy has withdrawn support for a high-profile “clean coal” project in Meredosia, Illinois that was intended to demonstrated successful carbon capture from coal-fired power generation.
DOE “concluded that there is insufficient time to complete the project before federal funding expires in September 2015,” said FutureGen Alliance CEO Ken Humphreys.
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The Obama Administration “earmarked $1 billion in federal funds from the stimulus law enacted in 2009 for FutureGen,” Crain’s reports. “The project slowly made progress securing permits and negotiating an arrangement with the state of Illinois to require electricity consumers statewide to finance the remaining costs of the $1.7 billion plant.”
But DOE “decided there wasn’t enough time, and there were still outstanding questions about financing and the legal status of forcing Illinois consumers to pay higher electric bills to support the project.”
