CCS Project Database
Company/Alliance: Mississippi Power, Southern Energy, KBR
Location: Kemper County, Mississippi
Feedstock: Coal: Mississippi lignite
Size: 582 MW. 3.5 Mt/yr
Capture Technology: Pre-combustion using TRIG™ technology (65% capture)
CO2 Fate: EOR
Timing: Construction (Started 2010), Start date (2014) Project duration (142 months)
Motivation/Economics:
The project is estimated to cost $2.4 billion - the cost excludes AFUDC and includes incentives. Mississippi Power has received a $270 million grant from the Department of Energy for the project (CCPI Phase 2) and $133 million in investment tax credits approved by the Internal Revenue Service.
On April 3 2013, Southern Company announced that it has withdrawn it's application for a federal loan guarantee for the power plant its subsidiary Mississippi Power is building in Kemper County. Southern says that Mississippi Power can borrow money elsewhere at a lower rate than available under the loan from the U.S. Department of Energy, cutting the costs of the plant.
Comments:
The pulverized coal power station will be a new construction with a base lignite capacity of 524 MW and NG Capacity 58 MW. The plant will capture 65% of total emissions resulting in 3.5 million tons per year. The Kemper County energy facility will have fewer particulate, sulfur dioxide and mercury emissions than traditional pulverized coal plants.
Mississippi power will continue to build Kemper County after the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed Southern Company's CCS project approval (March 2012). Mississippi Power had originally obtained the authorization to build the Kemper County IGCC on May 26, 2010.
This project was one of two selected in the second round of the US Department of Energy's Clean Coal Power Initiative. It received US$270 million in funding to demonstrate advanced power generation systems using IGCC technology.
Transport Integrated Gasification (TRIG™) technology was developed by Southern Company and KBR in conjunction with the DOE. It is a coal-gasification method designed to be cleaner and cheaper than its competitors. TRIG technology is designed to work efficiently with lower rank coals, for example the Mississippi Lignite. The Kemper County IGCC Project is a scale-up of a test plant already in operation at the Power Systems Development Facility (PSDF) in Wilsonville, AL.
The Kemper IGCC plant is situated in close proximity to an estimated 4 billion tons of mineable Mississippi lignite. Mississippi lignite is a low rank coal with high moisture of high ash content. These type of coals make up half the proven reserves in the US and worldwide. It is estimated that 160 million tons of coal will be needed for Kemper IGCC to operate for 40 years.
The Mississippi Commission voted April 29, 2010 to allow the plant to go forward if Mississippi Power Company (a division of Southern Company) agreed to cap costs at $2.4 billion. MPC had previously proposed a cost cap of $3.2 billion.
Project Link: Mississippi Power Kemper County IGCC website
Other Sources and Press Releases:
MISS. POWER SAYS KEMPER ON BUDGET; SIERRA CLUB QUESTIONS COSTS (March 2013)
Mississippi allows Southern Co to keep building $2.8 billion coal plant (March 2012)
Miss. Supreme Court reverses Southern Co coal project approval
(March 2012)
Mississippi Power will keep building Kemper County
(March 2012)
KRB TRIG technology web page
DOE CCPI project fact sheets 2011
[PDF]
Denbury enters into Kemper County CO2 contract (March 2011)
Kemper County Brochure [PDF]
US Energy Secretary wants Kemper approval (May 2010)
Mississippi Power receives additional federal support (May 2010)
Mississippi Power going ahead with plant (May 2010)
IGCC power plant costs released (March 2010)
Date Modified May 13, 2013
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