In Sweetwater, Texas, a company called Tenaska has applied to build what will be the nation’s first bona fide "clean coal" plant — an IGCC plant that will capture and sequester CO2 emissions. (Said emissions will be used to pump more oil out of the Permian Basin oil fields, which will then be burned and create more CO2, but who’s counting?) The 600MW plant is projected to be completed in 2014.
Meanwhile, Spanish engineering firm Abengoa has signed a deal with the Arizona Public Service Co. utility to build what will be the largest solar power plant in the U.S. — 280MW. (It’s worth noting that the plant will not be built unless Congress extends the solar production tax credits.) The concentrated solar plant, Solana, will be up and running around 2011.
And the race is on!
