Pegasus Project Selected as Part of Clean Coal Power Initiative

Washington, DC - Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham today announced the final selection from the second round of competition under President Bush’s 10-year, $2 billion Clean Coal Power Initiative. The projects and technologies selected during the second round will help maintain abundant coal resources as a cornerstone of the nation’s future domestic energy portfolio, particularly for power generation. The priorities for this round of competition were technology advancements for gasification-based electricity production, advanced mercury control, and sequestration and sequestration-readiness.

For Round Two, proposals were offered that were valued at nearly $6 billion; the selected projects, valued at close to $1.8 billion, will focus on pioneering a new generation of innovative power plants. The advanced technologies will help meet the nation’s growing demand for electricity, provide a secure and low-cost coal-based energy source, and protect the environment. Overall for Round Two, the Energy Department will provide about $296 million in federal funds - about 16 percent of the total cost - for demonstrating the technologies.

The Pegasus project combines Pegasus Technologies Inc., in a joint effort with Texas Genco, to demonstrate technology advancements supporting the President’s Clear Skies Initiative, which calls for dramatic reductions in power plant emissions, particularly mercury, by 2018. Pegasus will demonstrate the capability of sophisticated control processes and advanced sensor technologies to optimize mercury speciation and control from an existing 890-megawatt utility boiler in Jewett, Texas. The project will accomplish this by combusting a blend of Texas lignite and Powder River Basin subbituminous coal. The demonstration could also provide the capability to maximize plant efficiency for electricity production. The Energy Department will provide $6.1 million in federal funds to support the proposed $12.2 million project.

For more information, contact: Drew Malcomb, DOE Office of Public Affairs, 202-586-5806