For the second time, the Power County Planning and Zoning Commission in American Falls, Idaho, has agreed to extend a permit renewal for Southeast Idaho Energy’s (SIE) Power County Advanced Energy Center. The latest renewal came on Sept. 7.
The $1.5 billion industrial complex is designed to produce up to 500 st/d of anhydrous ammonia, up to 1,800 st/d of granular urea, and up to 1,600 st/d of UAN, using clean coal gasification technology. SIE has decided against producing diesel fuel or generating electricity at the site as originally planned.
SIE officials sought the latest permit renewal from Power County to give themselves more time to work with investors to finance the project. Officials said credit lending has tightened significantly as a result of the nation’s economic downturn.
Kimberly Clinger, a community relations representative for parent Refined Energy Holdings of New York, said available financing is insufficient, but that SIE hopes to begin construction in 2011. She said circumstances were beyond the company’s control. No specific date has been set for a groundbreaking.
A pipeline to pump carbon dioxide off-gas for use in enhanced oil recovery from aging Wyoming wells is still planned, but it would be a separate project that would follow construction of the fertilizer complex, said Clinger. About 90 percent of the plant’s CO2 would be removed.
In November 2009, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ) issued a revised air quality permit for the fertilizer project that imposed new limits (GM Dec. 7, 2009) on carbon dioxide emissions, setting a nationwide precedent for regulating “greenhouse gases.” However, while IDEQ agreed to include the enforceable carbon dioxide limits in the permit, officials said they do not intend to include such limits in future air quality permits until federal regulations have been finalized.
About 450 acres in a heavy industrial zone two miles southwest of American Falls have been designated for the complex. Up to 1,350 construction workers would be employed during a three-year construction phase, and as many as 150 employees would be hired to operate the plant. Engineering work has been underway in recent weeks.
The plant is expected to use coal, petroleum coke, or a blend of the two. In the past SIE estimated it would need to import about 2,000 st of coal daily, mostly from Colorado. The IDEQ agreement would permit 756,000 st of carbon dioxide to be emitted – 60 percent less than what a typical fertilizer plant discharges.