Excelsior Delays 2,000 Megawatt Mesaba Energy Project

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Excelsior Energy Incorporated (NYSE:UMESX) (Minneapolis, Minnesota), formed by three former Northern States Power executives, has proposed to build a 2,000 megawatt (MW) power plant, twice the size of Wisconsin Energy Corporation's Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant, at the former LTV Steel Mining Company site in Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota. However, the project has been delayed until early 2003, because it has not been approved by regulators.

The Mesaba Energy Project, would use a process called Integrated Gasification Combined-Cycle (IGCC). This converts coal into a gas which is then cleaned and burned into a combustion turbine. The advantage of IGCC is that it allows generating companies to utilize coal in a more environmentally friendly manner by reducing emissions and producing electricity more efficiently.

There are two plants in the U.S currently using IGCC technology. They are Tampa Electric's Polk Power Station in Florida and PSI Energy's Wabash River Generating Station in Indiana. Both plants are successful demonstrations of the IGCC configuration.

The Mesaba project is still in the preliminary stages, and is facing scrutiny due to its close proximity to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Voyagers National Park and Superior National Forest. If approved, the $2 billion project could start operating by 2007.