EPC Contractor Selected for Trailblazer Energy Center

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Trailblazer Energy Center being developed by Tenaska Incorporated (Omaha, Nebraska) in Sweetwater, Texas, has taken another step forward as Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR) (Irving, Texas) has been selected as the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor and has started the limited engineering phase of the $3.5 billion project, which will last 12 months.

The 600-megawatt (MW) power plant will feature advanced carbon-capture technology designed to capture 85-90% of the plant's carbon-dioxide emissions. The captured carbon dioxide will be piped to the Permian Basin oil field to be used in enhanced oil recovery and geological storage and could increase oil production in the area by more than 10 million barrels per year.

The Permian Basin Oil Field extends across the Texas panhandle into eastern New Mexico and encompasses an area 300 miles long by 250 miles wide. The basin has produced a total of 11.3 billion barrels of oil since the first well was completed in Mitchell County in 1921.

The project is scheduled to start construction in late 2010 if the permitting and cost analysis are completed and accepted by the owner. The project is slated for completion in 2015.

Once construction begins, the project will create 1,500 to 2,000 high-paying jobs at the peak of construction and more than 100 permanent positions after the power plant becomes operational.

Conventional pulverized coal technology was chosen for the project over integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology because of the high moisture, low British thermal unit (BTU) content of Powder River Basin coal in addition to the plant's higher elevation. IGCC plants work best at sea level with low moisture and high-BTU coal.

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