VentureBeat - The Department of Energy may have just handed out $27.6 million for clean coal projects, but it’s already looking to curtail its
involvement — particularly in the large-scale Illinois clean-coal plant being built by the FutureGen Alliance, the nexus of nine utilities pushing to make it a reality.
The DOE and FutureGen have inked a deal to slash construction costs and bring in more partners to carry the anticipated $2.4 billion load. Right now, the DOE is carrying the bulk, having granted $1.1 billion to the project.
Still, the DOE is looking to dilute its role in the project, perhaps to free up funds for other cleantech initiatives. In order to make this possible, FutureGen agreed to up the number of companies in its consortium from nine to 20. When VentureBeat last reported on FutureGen, it was 11 utilities strong, but Southern Co. and American Electric Power opted out in June in order to tighten their belts.
Their departure, and the DOE’s decision to back off are not so surprising. Since the 275-megawatt Illinois plant was pitched to the government, the terms have changed. Originally, the new equipment was supposed to trap up to 90 percent of carbon emissions — a figure that has since been scaled to 60 percent. The shift pointed to a lack of technical understanding of the facility’s feasibility. Also, recruiting 20 companies into the fold has been a long-standing goal, but little progress has been made... please read more from venturebeat
