GE and Schlumberger announced that they have signed an agreement to work jointly to develop a CO2 solution for sequestration of CO2. GE is a leader in coal gasification technology. Schlumberger is an expert and leader in the study and analysis of geological formations. The two have teamed up to work together and develop commercial CO2 sequestration solutions.

GE offers a 630 megawatt design coal gasification power plant that has lower emissions than an advanced natural gas combined cycle plant for SOx, NOx, and particulates. GE’s coal gasification technology provides a CO2 stream that is capture ready. There must be solution for safely storing the CO2 after capture. The GE / Schlumberger alliance will work to develop the needed solutions.

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.