The US Department of Energy is seeking new partners to develop clean coal power plants equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS) under its restructured FutureGen programme.

The DOE has issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the development of a number of cutting-edge power plants in the US, a project that it hopes will advance integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) and CCS technology. It says that $290 million will be available during fiscal 2009 and more during subsequent years.

“The department is committed to increasing the nation’s energy security and addressing CO2 emissions by ensuring coal, an abundant domestic resource, can be used to meet our growing energy demand in an environmentally responsible way,” Under Secretary of Energy Bud Albright said. “This announcement brings us one step closer towards the installation of carbon sequestration technology on commercial-scale clean coal power plants.”

The FutureGen programme anticipates the development of a number of clean coal plants equipped with CCS technology, a change from its original vision of construction of a single zero-emissions advanced power plant. The FOA invites applications from parties interested in participating in the programme on a cost-sharing basis.

The DOE says that the technical, economic and operational results from the projects will provide guidance in the development of regulations for carbon sequestration activities. They will also help to establish technologies and protocols for CO2 monitoring and verification.

The FOA stipulates that at least 50 per cent of the energy output of each project’s energy conversion system must be used to produce electricity and that it should capture 90 per cent of CO2 emissions. The projects must also demonstrate, monitor and verify the capture, transport and sequestration of 1 million tonnes per year of CO2 over a 3-5 year period.

The DOE changed the FutureGen programme in early 2008, deciding to focus on CCS developments in response to changing market conditions. It says its decision to develop multiple projects, rather than a single plant, will at least double the amount of CO2 sequestered.

The FutureGen plants will be the cleanest coal-fired plants in the world, each capturing and storing 1 million tonnes of CO2 per year. The DOE anticipates commercial operation of the plants in 2015.