According to the Associated Press, which obtained a document on Thursday authored by the Congressional Research Service, the non-partisan group believes facility developer FutureGen Alliance will not be able to meet a 2015 deadline to use $1 billion in federal funding earmarked by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The commitment is a significant portion of FutureGen’s total $1.3 billion price tag.
The CRS also questioned whether the power generation sector had enough incentive to use the project’s carbon capture and storage technology.
FutureGen 2.0 is set to be a first-of-a-kind near-zero emissions power plant.
The alliance did not issue a public statement on the report by press time.
The first FutureGen project was shelved by the US government and a redesign set for construction in Illinois was unveiled in 2011.
Morgan County, Illinois, was selected as the preferred site for FutureGen 2.0 in February 2011 following an open and competitive solicitation process.
When in operation – developers are still anticipating a 2017 start – FutureGen is expected to create 125 permanent direct jobs and about 1000 jobs for the plant site conversion.
The design plan includes upgrading the Meredosia Energy Center’s unit 4 with oxy-combustion technology to capture about 90% of the plant’s carbon emissions.
Using safe and proven pipeline technology, the carbon dioxide will then be transported and stored underground permanently at a nearby storage site.
In February, the US Department of Energy confirmed the second phase of development for the facility had begun, marking a huge step forward for the long-awaited project.
“We believe FutureGen 2.0 is an important step in making economic, commercial-scale CCS a reality,” then-energy secretary Steven Chu said at the time.
“The project is [an] important part of a portfolio of approaches we are pursuing to reduce carbon emissions from existing coal-fired power plants and perhaps other large, localized CO2 emitters.”
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has been a supporter of the facility along the way. He reiterated earlier this year that FutureGen would be a welcome addition to the state while touting its future success.
“We look forward to working with all of the project partners to see that FutureGen 2.0 will move forward and that the reality of this first-of-its-kind project will be realized in Illinois,” Quinn said.
