Duke Energy reported that the estimated cost to complete the Edwardsport Project has increased $150 million. Duke Energy filed a report with Indiana Utility Information Commission stating the $2.35 billion cost estimate will increase $150 million. Duke is required to report significant changes.

This represents a 6% increase in the total cost of the project. The Duke Energy press release states that the increase is because of increases in the amount of materials such as structural steel, piping and electrical cable. Bechtel is the engineering contractor and the original estimated quantities have been revised upward as the engineering details have been fully developed. Construction has started. When complete the plant will produce 630 Mw of electricity.

This should not be cause for alarm. For a large industrial project, the original estimate is prepared before the detail design work is completed. As the details of the engineering are developed, the cost estimate will move either up or down.

The Sierra Club files for communication records between Governor and Duke Energy after losing in federal court. The Duke Edwardsport Project is on a schedule to become the first coal gasification plant built since the Wabash Power Plant in Terre Haute, Indiana and the Tampa Electric Polk Power Plant near Tampa, Florida. But, first the Edwardsport Project had to survive a desperate legal attack by the Sierra Club.

The Edwardsport project has received it’s air permit and construction of the Edwardsport power plant has begun. Groundbreaking was in June 2008. The project is a 630 MW coal gasification power plant that will convert high sulfur coal to Substitute Natural Gas (SNG) and the SNG will be used to power gas turbines and produce electricity. On May 1, 2008, Duke Energy reported that the cost estimate has increased $235 million from $2 billion to $2.235 billion. The reasons cited by Duke for the increase is global competition for materials and equipment and increased construction labor rates.

On April 3, 2008, the Sierra Club filed a legal challenge to the project in federal court in Indiana on the grounds that Duke has not included the best pollution control technology (BACT) on the project. Duke is shutting down the old, existing ‘pulverized coal’ techology Edwardsport power plant and constructing a low emission ‘coal gasification’ technology power plant at the site. Ironically, the Sierra Club doesn’t want Duke to receive credit for lowering emissions at the existing site and is challenging this in court. The lawsuit also challenged the cost of the plant and sought to halt the construction on the basis of the cost to the rate payers.

On October 16, 2008, the federal court issued a 25 page opinion and ruled against the Sierra Club et al, and ruled in favor of Duke Energy. Apellate Judge Elaine Brown wrote that complex evidentiary issues and policy are best decided by agencies with technical expertise i.e. the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.

After the Sierra Club lost in the lawsuit in federal court, on October 29, 2008, the local Sierra Club chapter and other environmental groups filed papers demanding copies of all correspondence between Indiana’s Governor Daniels and Duke Energy. This appears to be a desperate attack by a minority group to delay the construction of the Edwardsport Plant.

Duke Energy received the air permit for the Edwardsport Coal Gasification Power Plant. The plant is a 630 Megawatt power plant that will be constructed at the Edwardsport Station in southwest Indiana. The facility will be a coal gasification plant and will be one of the cleanest coal powered plants in the United States, because of it will use gasification technology.

The gasification technology will convert the coal to synthetic gas (syngas). The syngas will be further processed using proven technology to remove the sulfur, mercury and particulates. After ‘cleaning’, the syngas will be sent to a traditional power plant to power two combustion turbines.

The new plant is scheduled to be complete in 2012. It will replace four older, less efficient generating units at the site. This is a win-win for Indiana. The site will employ 800 – 900 construction workers for approximately 3 years. After start-up, the region will have more electricity, lower emissions and cleaner air. Duke must construct new electric generation facilities and this is a clean technology.

Duke Energy is planning to construct a coal gasification power plant. The plant will be located near Edwardsport, Indiana adjacent to an existing power plant. The existing power plant is a 160 MW plant built in the 1940’s and it will be retired when the new facility is put into operation.

The plant will be an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant. IGCC combines a coal gasification plant with a combined cycle power generation plant. The plant will use GE Energy gasification technology. The estimated cost is $1.95 billion.

The FEED and EP/CM is being performed by Bechtel under the GE/Bechtel alliance. GE and Bechtel have teamed up to develop a reference IGCC plant design. The gasification process will produce syngas from coal. The raw syngas will be cleaned of pollutants and converted to Substitute Natural Gas (SNG) with the same physical characteristics as natural gas. The SNG will be used power GE gas turbines. The plant will produce 630 MW of electricity.