A "preferred resource plan" outlined by a state consultant says the Healy Clean Coal plant should remain mothballed until it's clear what will happen with federal regulations on carbon dioxide emissions.
"Due to the operating cost risks associated with the possible enactment of CO2 legislation, Black & Veatch does not recommend that HCCP be included in the preferred resource plan at this time," a draft report says.
Consultant Black & Veatch said the plant should not be restarted "until such time as it becomes clear whether CO2 regulations are enacted and the resulting economic impact on the plant can be determined."
The consulting firm, hired to develop a 50-year power plan for the Railbelt, says that in the "least cost scenario," as opposed to the preferred plan, the Healy plant is included, with no allowance made for the possible costs related to carbon dioxide emissions. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by taxing coal-fired generation is one of the possible results of future federal action.
The plan assumes that carbon dioxide emissions will be regulated, but it adds that this is not guaranteed. On the plus side, the plant adds fuel diversity to the Railbelt, which is important to GVEA, which doesn't have natural gas. There is no additional coal-fired generation in the preferred plan, the report says.
The consultant report recommendation is at odds with the actions of the Parnell administration and the decision by the Golden Valley Electric Association board of directors to pursue plans to get the Healy plant in operation.
There are a host of other recommendations in the study about hydro projects, wind power, natural gas and other energy sources. The report urges formation of a unified approach by the Railbelt utilities.
GVEA has not signed onto a unified approach, its directors say, largely because of worries about reliability and being on the end of the power line. This proposal on the Healy plant, which GVEA is in the process of taking over, is not going to make the utility any more eager to join the others.
But carbon dioxide emissions from the coal plant could soon be a significant cost.
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The US Department of Energy has selected three new projects with a total value of $3.18 billion to accelerate the development of advanced coal technologies with carbon capture and storage at commercial-scale. DOE’s investment of up to $979 million, including funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will be leveraged by more than $2.2 billion in private capital cost share as part of the third round of the Department’s Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI).
If indeed the Doyon gas-well 4miles west of Nenana as a dry hole, maybe the geology of the area would be suitable for gas-storage and CO2-resequestration. Building a few HDPE polypipes running from Livengood to Healy for passing coalwater & limewater & ClubSoda & nat-gas around the area would make good sense, eh? Or, would you spendaholics prefer to use a big chunk of the PF to buy spendy rustaholic steel pipes from India ?? [Thanks to the past 5 administrations USA owned companies don't make much steel-pipe anymore]
and using coalwater/limewater conditioned with electrolyzers it can operate with a big plastic cork stuck in the smokestack...
...I wonder if Black & Veatch is smart enough to figure this one out -- (;-P)
http://pesn.com/2009/11/23/9501587_ChrisEckman_BrownsGas_model/