Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity director Jack Lavin announced new developments on the project Friday before a government and industry crowd, highlighted by new geophysical data that confirm suitability of the planned site in Mattoon, Illinois.
Lavin was joined by FutureGen Alliance chief Mike Mudd and the economic development agency Coles Together, also a stakeholder in the project, as well as Illinois Clean Coal Review Board and Illinois State Geological Survey.
“The amazing team that worked for years to bring FutureGen to Illinois is still moving the ball forward to make this critical project a reality," Lavin said.
“With this effort, we're making the best possible case to President-elect Obama and his energy policy team that the path to energy independence goes right through Mattoon, Illinois."
Mattoon was chosen about one year ago as the host site for the $US1.8 billion FutureGen project, over three other towns in Illinois and Texas. The review process for all four towns’ sites took three years to complete.
Shortly after, the US Department of Energy withdrew its participation in the project, but regulatory efforts by government bodies in the state had maintained the momentum. Recently, the FutureGen Alliance and Coles Together combined financial resources to purchase the 400-acre site just west of Mattoon.
“The alliance's commitment to FutureGen at Mattoon is evidenced by all that we have accomplished since USDOE's cost sharing ceased in June," Mudd noted of the continued dedication to the project.
“Using the alliance's own financial resources, along with financial support of the Clean Coal Review Board and the State of Illinois, we have continued with the engineering and design of the plant, and we have purchased the land upon which FutureGen at Mattoon will be constructed.
“With the ongoing support of our advocates on Capitol Hill, we will work with the new administration to put FutureGen at Mattoon back on the fast track."
Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability director William Shilts added that the new data collection efforts had confirmed earlier Illinois State Geological Survey findings – that the bedrock at the site “is very capable of long-term deep storage of carbon dioxide".
Progress on the scientific data needed to be submitted for the project’s permits is also moving along positively, Shilts said.
“A year ago, FutureGen at Mattoon supporters from across the spectrum came to the same conclusion – that this project was too important and too far along for us to simply cease and desist," said Coles Together president Angela Griffin.
“We have sustained our enthusiasm and, working together, we have achieved an increased state of readiness."
FutureGen is expected to create about 1300 construction jobs and 150 permanent jobs and its four-year-long construction could pump more than $1 billion into the state’s economic landscape. Additionally, as many as 1225 indirect and induced spin-off jobs could be created in a “ripple effect” the plant will generate.
Once operational, FutureGen could generate $135 million each year in total statewide economic output, with a jump of $85 million annually in Coles County, where Mattoon is located.
