Secure Energy has selected Emerson Process to provide the engineering expertise and digital automation control technology to integrate the process units at the Decatur Illinois gasification facility. The Decatur Illinois gasification facility will be designed and constructed with modular process units. Emerson will provide the controls and the overall integration of the five process units: ASU, gasification, CO shift, AGR and methanation.

When complete, the Decatur Illinois gasification plant will convert 1.4 million tons/year of Illinois coal into 21 billion cubic feet of pipeline quality substitue natural gas (SNG). Secure Energy has selected the Siemens gasification technology for this project.

Secure Energy has plans to construct four other coal gasification facilities in the United States in addition to the Decatur, IL plant.

BP Canada Energy Marketing Company (BP) and Secure Energy, Incorporated announced that they have entered into a long term natural gas sales agreement whereby BP will purchase up to 67 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Secure Energy Decatur Plant once it has been constructed and becomes operational. Secure Energy will have the option to separately sell natural gas to industrial customers in the Decatur, Illinois area for a portion of its production and BP has agreed to purchase any natural gas not sold locally.


Secure Energy also has announced that the State of Illinois has issued the air permit for the construction of the Secure Energy Decatur Gasification Plant. The Secure Energy Decatur Gasification plant will utilize gasification to create a substitute natural gas (SNG), a pipeline quality natural gas.


“The issuance of the air permit is a major milestone in the development of the Decatur project. The Decatur plant will serve as Secure Energy’s reference plant that we intend to replicate in similar sites throughout the nation,” said Lars Scott, President and Co-Founder of Secure Energy. “Secure Energy’s facility in Decatur will demonstrate how Illinois’ abundant coal reserves can be utilized in an environmentally friendly manner to reduce our demand for foreign sources of energy.”


The Secure Energy Decatur Gasification Plant is a coal to pipeline quality synthetic natural gas (SNG) conversion facility planned for an existing industrial site in Decatur, Illinois. The plant will convert up to 1.4 million tons per year of high-sulfur Illinois coal into pipeline quality natural gas. It is projected that the plant will have an average initial gas production of 45,000 mmBtu/day of natural gas with the capability of producing up to 67,000 mmBtu/day. The plant is projected to require an investment of over $250 million and will require 40 full time employees to operate the plant. In addition to jobs created at the plant, the project will create a number of construction, mining and trucking jobs in the Decatur area.

Secure Energy takes delivery of two Siemens gasifiers and submits an application for loan guarantee to the DOE that is likely a very compelling application.Secure Energy Inc. is developing a coal gasification plant near Decatur, Illinois. Secure Energy submitted an application to the DOE under the DOE solicitation for coal gasification projects with carbon capture and sequestration. Illinois Representatives Phil Hare, Aaron Schock, John Shimkus, and Senator Roland Burris sent a bipartisan letter to DOE Secretary Steven Chu in support of the project. Approval of the loan guarantee by the DOE will also permit Secure Energy to borrow the funds from the Federal Financing Bank. It’s a good bet that the loan guarantee application will receive a favorable evaluation. Why? Because Secure Energy has just received two Siemens gasifiers for the project and they are at the site waiting to be installed.

Secure Energy purchased the 28 acre site in Decatur, IL for the Secure Energy Gasification Plant from Catepillar. Catepillar had a coal fired boiler facility at it’s Decatur manufacturing facility that was never put in use and sold it to Secure Energy. Secure Energy plans to use some of the existing infrastructure for the coal gasification plant such as the coal conveyor system.

Secure Energy received an air permit for the project in 2007. In 2007, Secure Energy also selected Siemens gasification technology for the project. The Siemens scope of supply for the Decatur plant consists of process design and basic engineering design packages for the gasification island, two Siemens gasifiers and other key gasification island components, and a license to use the Siemens fuel gasification process.

Secure Energy purchased the Siemens gasifiers as long lead equipment items and the gasifiers were delivered recently in March 2009. According to a Siemens report, the gasifiers will have a thermal capacity of 500 megawatts (MWth) each and will convert 1.3 million tpd high-sulfur Illinois coal into pipeline quality natural gas (SNG) which will be supplied to the interstate natural gas pipeline network. The plant design capacity 20 billion cubic feet of synthetic natural gas per year.