Dive Brief:
- The Kemper County integrated gasification combined cycle facility is nearing completion and could be up and running by early 2016, according to Mississippi Business Journal (MBJ).
- Mississippi Power, developer of the project, told the news outlet the facility will be one of the cleanest in the region, will promote fuel diversity and keep costs low for electric customers.
- Early cost estimates for the facility were about $2.2 billion, but the pricetag has escalated to $6 billion and at least one partner has backed out because of delays.
Dive Insight:
Development of the Kemper project began in 2008, and Mississippi Power is finally close to bringing the facility online, according to company spokesman Lee Youngblood. The facility is ready for final testing and certification, he told MBJ in an interview last week.
“Once that’s done, we expect to see the facility up and running and doing what it’s supposed to do, by early 2016,” he told the news outlet.
The facility actually began generating gas power last year, but is not expected to begin burning the synthetic gas until next year. But in eight years of development and with costs that essentially tripled from initiate estimates, the beleaguered project has lost luster with some supporters.
South Mississippi Electric announced in May that it would abandon its plan to purchase a stake in the facility. The utility pointed to delays and cost overruns since the purchase agreement was signed in 2010. Originally the wholesale electric power cooperative had agreed to purchase 17.5% of the Mississippi Power facility, but that was later dropped to 15% after costs escalated.
The 582-MW facility will be the first Mississippi Power baseload plant built in more than three decades, and is one of two coal gasification plants in operation in the United States today, along with Duke's Edwardsport plant in Indiana.
