Construction of New Mexico Coal-Fired Power Station Project Placed On Hold and Could Be Cancelled

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Mustang Energy Company, LLC, a subsidiary of Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) (Saint Louis, Missouri), has placed on hold plans for a new mine-mouth 300-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in McKinley County, New Mexico. The proposed plant is to be built near Crownpoint, New Mexico. According to sources within Peabody Energy, the project may be cancelled due to the inability to obtain air permits from the state.

As proposed, Mustang Energy plans to build a new $600 million, 300 MW pulverized coal-fired power plant. The project had also been selected to receive funding from the United States Department of Energy’s (DOE) Clean Coal Power Initiative for a $79 million multi-pollutant scrubber. This innovative technology utilizes sodium bicarbonate in the scrubbing process and removes 99.5% of SO2 (sulfur dioxide), 98% of NOx (nitrogen oxides) and 90% of Hg (mercury) emissions. The scrubber is designed to produce fertilizer as a by-product of the nitrogen and sulfur removed from the flue gas stream. If the Mustang Energy project moves forward, the scrubber project will be done with partners Airborne Technologies, Incorporated (Calgary, Alberta) and Icon Construction Company (Dayton, Ohio).

The future looks bleak at this point for Mustang, in fact Peabody Energy believes that under current circumstances the best opportunity to receive air permits for a coal-fueled plant is by proposing an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant. Given this scenario, the Mustang project will likely be cancelled. From a technology prospective, IGCC is less reliable and much more expensive than pulverized coal-fired plants.

Peabody continues to develop the new El Segundo coal mine at the same site. When complete in 2008, the El Segundo coal mine is slated to deliver coal to Arizona Public Service Company’s Cholla Power Plant in Arizona.

For more information on future business trends and project spending in the Power Industry, check out Industrialinfo.com's recently released 2006 Power Industry Forecast.

View Plant Profile – 1057441
View Project Report - 42000285 42000386 42000282

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a Marketing Information Service company that has been doing business for over 23 years. IIR is respected as the leader in providing comprehensive market intelligence pertaining to the industrial processing, heavy manufacturing, and energy-related industries throughout the world.