Tenaska says the Taylorville Energy Center (TEC), for which it is the managing partner, has its final amended air permit from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA).
Strict permit limits on conventional pollutants such as sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) are less than 1/40th the level of the average U.S. coal-fueled power plant.
Changes to a draft air permit in October included lowering permissible mercury emissions by 90% following a request from Tenaska. The company also asked a binding limit on carbon emissions.
The final permit for TEC includes a power block CO2 emissions limit of 827 lbs/MWh (gross). When coal is being gasified to produce natural gas and when CO2 is being captured and stored, emissions are expected to be as low as 666 lbs/MWh (gross) when one combustion turbine is operating and 716 lbs/MWh (gross) when two are running, Tenaska said.
