Published: October 26, 2017 |

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Coal-fired power plants have been under economic pressure from cheaper, cleaner burning natural gas for years.

•  The Department of Energy has awarded $12 million in funding for projects designed to aid in the cleaner combustion of coal.

•  The Office of Fossil Energy selected the nine recipient projects as part of its Advanced Combustion Systems Program.

•  The projects, which will be managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory, range from monitoring systems for coal combustion to systems designed to remove harmful particles from flue gas.

Earlier this month, Luminant said it plans to close three coal plants in Texas. And a recent report from the Union of Concerned Scientists found that about 25 percent of the operating coal plants in the U.S. are slated for retirement or conversion to natural gas.

But coal has strong support from the Trump administration. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt this month signed a proposal to repeal the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, which was designed to reduce power plant greenhouse gas emissions. And Energy Secretary Rick Perry directed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to conduct a rulemaking on cost recovery for baseload coal and nuclear plants.

The recently awarded DOE funds are for projects that aim to improve the emission profile and efficiency of coal plants. The program calls for cost sharing so the $12 million in DOE funds will be supplemented with non-DOE funds.

Among the recipients are universities in Florida, Maine and North Dakota, as well as private companies such as Alstom Power and Microbeam Technologies.

Source: Utility Dive

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