Oil And Gas Construction

Oil & Gas Construction Management Tell Us About Your Project.

Odessa coal-to-gas power plant to break ground 

this year

Posted on April 1, 2015 | By Ryan Holeywell

HOUSTON — A new power plant in West Texas that could transform coal into cleaner-burning 

natural gas is poised to break ground later this year, an executive in charge of the project said at 

a conference in Houston Wednesday.

The project, located on a 600-acre site in Odessa, uses coal as a feedstock for a 400 megawatt 

power plant. But instead of burning it, the plant uses a chemical process to first strip it of carbon,

sulfur and mercury.

The result, project leaders say, is a hydrocarbon that can fuel the power plan but burns even 

cleaner than natural gas — even though it was derived from coal. The extra carbon dioxide that 

gets stripped away is sold to production company Whiting Petroleum, which can pump in 

underground through a process known as enhanced oil recovery that helps coax more 

hydrocarbons from the earth.

“We’re not actually burning coal; we’re unlocking hydrocarbons,” said Jason Crew, CEO of Summit 

Power, the Seattle-based company behind the undertaking dubbed the Texas Clean Energy Project.

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded the project $450 million in federal grants. Even though 

the U.S. is moving to phase-out coal in favor of natural gas-fired plants and alternative energy 

sources, coal is still poised to be a vital source of energy for the U.S. and other countries for years

to come, said  Jason Lewis, federal project manager at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National 

Energy Technology Laboratory.

But Lewis said development of the method, known as carbon capture and storage, faces 

headwinds.  Questions remain about the economics of carbon capture projects, among other 

factors.

But the feds hope that by investing in the Odessa project, they’ll be able to learn more about both 

the technology and finances of the operation and eventually have a model that can be used 

elsewhere, allowing coal to be used more cleanly as other fuel sources are developed.

“Carbon dioxide emissions will go up unless we do something now,” Lewis said.

The Odessa project is one of three carbon-capture projects in Texas.

The Petra Nova project, a joint venture involving NRG Energy Inc., is under construction in Fort 

Bend County. Technology added to an existing power plant is designed to capture carbon before 

it’s emitted into the atmosphere.

Air Products and Chemicals is capturing carbon from a hydrogen production facility in Port Arthur. 

All three projects have received federal support.

The technology has garnered mixed reaction from the environmental community.

While the Natural Resources Defense Council says that carbon capture  is one of several solutions 

that could help reduce carbon pollution from power plants, Sierra Club officials say they prefer 

focusing resources on the development of wind and solar power generation.

Categories: Coal, Electricity

Tags: clean coal | Coal | Department of Energy | Summit Power

Promoted Stories

Home Oil Field Pipelines Refining Power Washington Voices Jobs & Career Advice chron.com

PRINT

PRINT

Odessa coal-to-gas power plant to break ground this year - Fuel Fix Page 1 of 5

http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/04/01/odessa-coal-to-gas-power-plant-to-break-ground-this-year/ 8/3/2015
From Around The Web We Recommend

Follow Fuelfix

You Might Also Like 

Recommended by

Comments are closed.

Silicon Valley Startup 

Is Disrupting The 

Traditional Broker 

Is It Better to Buy a 

New or a Used Car?

(Better Money HabitsTM by 

Your 401k Isn't 

Growing as Fast as It 

Should - Here's Why

10 Favorite New Car 

Models Coming Out 

This Year

• Here’s How a 23-Year Old Millionaire Is 

Investing His Money (CNN Money)

• How Rich People Use Credit Cards to Their 

Advantage (NextAdvisor)

• Is This Tiny Stock the Next Big Thing?

(Venture Capital News)

• What Car Ranked As the Best All Wheel 

Drive SUV Under $25k for 2015? (Kelley 

Blue Book)

• 10 of the Best Luxury Cars That Cost Less 

Than $35,000 (Kelley Blue Book)

• 10 Highest Dividend Paying Dow Stocks 

[Top 10 Ranking] (Dogs of the Dow)

• Help Is a Phone Call Away [VIDEO] (The 

Alert Investor)

• Report: Oil and gas on public lands a 

‘blind spot’ in climate fight

• Port Arthur carbon capture project hits 

milestone

• NRG begins work on coal plant carbon 

capture project

• Houston's richest man got richer despite 

crashing oil prices

• Chemical plants and refineries hoping to 

hire laid off oil and gas engineers

• Enbridge moves into the black, but 

earnings still dip 24 percent

• Halliburton, Baker cut workforces deeper, 

bringing layoffs to 27,000

Odessa coal-to-gas power plant to break ground this year - Fuel Fix Page 2 of 5

http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/04/01/odessa-coal-to-gas-power-plant-to-break-ground-this-year/ 8/3/2015
•

Amy Myers 

Jaffe

•

Balanced 

Energy

•

Matt Smith

•

Energy In 

Motion

•

Recharge 

Ratepayer 

Report

Recommended by

Featured Videos

Search

Keyword search across all the entries in this 

blog.

KEYWORDS

SEARCH

FuelFix Voices

Drug Prices Soar, Prompting 

Calls for Justification

The New York Times

Here's Why You Should Stop 

'Googling' Names For Info

BeenVerified.com

Here's what you need to 

know when hiring a financial 

advisor.

Future Advisor

How Con Man Arnie Waters 

Got Caught [Video]

The Alert Investor

More videos:

Where to 

Invest for the Next Five Years

Bloomberg

Odessa coal-to-gas power plant to break ground this year - Fuel Fix Page 3 of 5

http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/04/01/odessa-coal-to-gas-power-plant-to-break-ground-this-year/ 8/3/2015
•

Laura 

Goldberg

Business Editor

•

Don Mason

Asst. Business 

Editor

•

Jennifer A. 

Dlouhy

Policy Reporter

•

Collin Eaton

Energy Reporter

•

Rhiannon 

Meyers

Energy Reporter

•

Robert 

Grattan

Energy Reporter

•

Josh Cain

Digital Producer

The award-winning team behind FuelFix.com:

Fuelfix Contributors

Recent Posts

• Coal giant files for bankruptcy

• Noble Energy posts $109 million loss

• Oil CEOs’ grim outlook rubs off on 

speculators fleeing market

• Oil slumps to six-month low

• Eagle Ford Shale tops Texas list of top 

crude, gas producers

• Texas power users are breaking records, 

and could break more by the end of the 

summer

• November retrial date expected for 

former BP engineer

• Oil rig count continues climb, but pace 

slows

Odessa coal-to-gas power plant to break ground this year - Fuel Fix Page 4 of 5

http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/04/01/odessa-coal-to-gas-power-plant-to-break-ground-this-year/ 8/3/2015
About Fuel Fix

FuelFix.com is your daily must-read source for 

news and analysis on the energy business. 

Anchored by business reporters at the Houston 

Chronicle and other Hearst Newspapers, Fuel 

Fix incorporates blogs by energy experts, 

market updates, useful data and a real-time 

summary of the top ideas, hottest stories and 

latest news in the oil, gas and energy 

industries. 

Odessa coal-to-gas power plant to break ground this year - Fuel Fix Page 5 of 5

http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/04/01/odessa-coal-to-gas-power-plant-to-break-ground-this-year/ 8/3/2015