Thursday, December 02, 1999
Cincinnati firm expands coal-to-gas power
BY MIKE BOYER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A Cincinnati company now has $1 billion in coal gasification projects on the drawing boards with the announcement of a $500 million power plant at the former Lima, Ohio, Locomotive Works.
Global Energy Inc. this week said it has agreed to buy an abandoned 65-acre industri al site in Lima for an estimated $1.5 million after it obtains the necessary permits and lines up customers. Global Energy, an 11-year-old company, is one of the founders of the national Gasification Technology Council.
Harry Graves, president of Global Energy, said, “We are creating a new class of power stations which involve a highly efficient closed system, yielding low cost power, low cost waste conversion and environmentally superior results.”
It's the second coal gasification project announced this year by Global Energy.
In February, it announced plans for a $450 million power plant to convert coal to gas to generate electricity in Kentucky's Clark County near Lexington.
That project, on land leased from East Kentucky Power Cooperative, will include a 400-megawatt power plant that will combine gas and steam turbines. All the power produced will be sold to the East Kentucky cooperative.
The Lima plant will use a combination of coal and municipal waste to create synthetic gas. It will feature a technology developed in Scotland but not used yet in the United States.
The gas produced can drive a pair of turbines that would generate more than 540 megawatts a year — enough to provide electricity to more than 500,000 homes.
The electricity would be sold at 25 percent to 30 percent less than existing rates, plant project manager Dwight Lockwood said.
Lima City Council will be asked Monday to allow Mayor David Berger to enter into a contract with Global Energy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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