UPA's Clean Coal Power Technology Could Tap $65 Billion Retrofit Market

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The prospects for clean power generation from coal are receiving increasing project focus and backing at government and industry levels, in the U.S. and throughout the world. Among a range of current projects, the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) has selected Unity Power Alliance (UPA) (Worcester, Massachusetts) to be the recipient of a grant that will fund further research and development (R&D) on pressurized oxy-combustion technologies for producing clean electric power from coal. UPA is a joint venture between ThermoEnergy (OTC:TMEN) (Worcester) and flameless technology company ITEA SpA (Gallarate, Italy), which is part of the Sofinter Group.

In the technology under development, the coal is burned at high pressures in highly purified oxygen rather than in air at normal air pressure, as it is in traditional thermal power stations. ThermoEnergy claims that the new technology enables the capture of virtually all pollutants, including CO2, before they can be emitted into the atmosphere.

Another benefit from the process is an increase in plant efficiency. Application of the technology will allow existing coal-fired plants to meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. The plants will use the funding to boost the efficiency of the technology and improve the ability to capture CO2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Georgia Institute of Technology will work with UPA on the R&D program.

"The overall goal is to lay the foundation for a 50-megawatt (MW) pressurized oxy-combustion power plant, which would be followed by a 320-MW commercial power plant," said UPA Managing Director Robert Marrs. Retrofitting the existing coal-fired plant with UPA's technology represents a potential $65 billion market.

The DoE will provide the funding through its national energy technology laboratory, which targets advanced technologies that can capture 90% of the CO2 from a power plant at less than a 35% increase in the cost of electricity produced.

UPA holds a broad range of patents on the technology. ITEA has developed a flameless combustion technology for coal plants and already operates a 5-MW thermal energy plant in Italy. The company also has a 15-MW commercial plant in Singapore. ITEA has received support from Enel SpA (Milan, Italy).

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