POWER October 2013 - 32

TOP PLANTS
Edwardsport Generating Station,
Knox County, Indiana
Owner/operator: Duke Energy Indiana
Courtesy: Duke Energy
Duke Energy Indiana was at an energy crossroads a decade ago. The last two
operating units at the Edwardsport Generating Station were scheduled for retirement,
new baseload generation was required, and using Indiana coal to fuel
a new plant was desirable. Duke Energy selected integrated gasification combined
cycle (IGCC) technology to provide 618 MW of baseload power for its customers.
Duke Energy declared the IGCC plant commercial in June 2013.
Dr. Robert Peltier, PE
T
here will surely be readers who will
disagree with our selection of the
Edwardsport Generating Station integrated
gasification combined cycle (IGCC)
as a POWER Top Plant. Opponents argue the
final price tag for Edwardsport could have
purchased five times the nameplate rating of
natural gas-fired generation while incurring
little technology or completion risk. Others
argue that the original decision-making
process was flawed given today's low price
for natural gas and that there is no compelling
regulatory requirement for pursuing
the carbon capture potential of IGCC technology.
They forget that natural gas prices
were spiking and carbon control proposals
dominated the news at the time this project
was given a green light. Reduced demand
for electricity has also called into question
whether the plant is even needed, but again,
that's 20/20 hindsight. All will agree that the
32
decision to build the plant remains controversial
and discussions about it will likely
remain contentious.
Nevertheless, Edwardsport should be recognized
as a Top Plant for two reasons.
First, Duke Energy decided that commercializing
state-of-the-art gasification technology
was the right thing to do (although,
in retrospect, for the wrong reasons). At the
time, Duke was a strong supporter of several
ill-fated legislative carbon control proposals.
Duke believed that " climate legislation
is likely forthcoming " and " we would prefer
to lead the way on this issue. Edwardsport
provides that opportunity. " Also, the then20%
cost premium for the project was to be
offset principally by federal tax credits included
in the 2005 Energy Policy Act and by
avoiding the soon-expected cost of carbon
emission allowances.
Whatever your personal feelings about
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carbon controls, one must appreciate Duke's
single-mindedness in deploying " bleeding
edge " technologies, particularly in an industry
customarily uninterested in serial No. 1
projects, particularly those with a nine- or
10-digit price tag.
The second reason for this award is that
Edwardsport remains too important to overlook.
It is one of only two IGCC projects that
will come to fruition in the near future as
developers have abandoned more than three
dozen similar projects over the past decade.
The power industry must learn from its good
and bad experiences and grow stronger. Edwardsport
is likely the first giant step on the
development path toward next-generation
coal combustion technology.
IGCC Has Potential
IGCC has many desirable operating characteristics,
such as lower air emissions,
POWER | October 2013
http://www.powermag.com
POWER October 2013

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