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Metro East benefits from growing biofuels industryClick here for a printable version of this article as it ran in the St. Louis Business Journal. By Annemarie Schumacher The Southwestern Illinois region is capitalizing on its assets to become one of the largest energy centers in the United States. The area boasts two ethanol production facilities as well as an oil refinery, and construction on three other energy-generating facilities is under way. “We have an infrastructure that makes us unique to the world,” said John Caupert, director of the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center (NCERC), which is located on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. “All three of the important ‘Rs’ are right here; roads, railways and rivers. It’s ideal for the energy industry and its need for getting goods in and products out.” The NCERC ethanol plant, located in Sauget, was merely a concept five years ago. Its backers approached Caupert as a resource to help evaluate the plant’s potential success. “I couldn’t come up with a single reason why we wouldn’t want to build it,” said Caupert, whose organization provides customized research for the ethanol industry. The plant began production in April 2008, and it can produce up to 54 million gallons of ethanol per year. The facility employs 40 people and is operational about 355 days a year on a 24-hour basis. Abengoa Bioenergy, a global producer of ethanol, completed construction on a local facility in 2009 and is opening it this year. The plant currently is in “startup mode,” according to an Abengoa spokesman, and it has begun processing corn on a limited basis. The plant likely will begin running at full capacity at some point in the first quarter of 2010. Abengoa’s plant is situated on a 79-acre site in the Tri-City Regional Port District’s River’s Edge development, five miles north of downtown St. Louis. The plant is designed to produce 88 million gallons of ethanol annually. It has created more than 60 permanent jobs and will have a payroll of about $4 million on an annual basis. Meanwhile, the ConocoPhillips petroleum refinery in Wood River, which has been in operation for more than 80 years, is undergoing a nearly $4 billion upgrade. The project will expand the refinery, which produces gas, jet fuel, diesel and other fuel products, allowing it to process oil from the Canadian oil sands region. The heavy Canadian crude oil is a “secure energy source,” said Melissa Erker, manager of public relations at ConocoPhillips. “And it comes from a stable political climate.” The expansion project has been under way a little more than 12 months, and it is slated for completion in 2011. Patrick McKeehan, executive director of the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois, said the expansion has employed more than 3,000 construction workers and will create 800 to 900 permanent jobs for the area. “It’s a huge commitment to the area,” he said. As far as other projects in the works, U.S. Steel’s Granite City Works is constructing a new coking facility that will be a co-generation plant. Heat from the ovens will produce enough steam to generate electricity. “This is a very cost-efficient and clean method of energy generation,” McKeehan said. “It’s a $600 million project that will pay huge benefits.” The Prairie State Energy Campus is under construction on 700 acres of land in Lively Grove, Ill., in Washington County. Ground was broken in 2007 on the $4 billion construction project, which will consist of a coal-fired generating plant and an adjacent coal mine. The facility will generate 1,600 megawatts of power when completed and will serve 2.5 million families across nine states. It is the largest coal-fired plant currently under construction in the United States. There are nine partners involved in the project, eight of which are municipal rural electric cooperatives. The ninth, St. Louis-based Peabody Energy, started the project in an effort to maximize the area’s resources. It will be a “mine-mouth” plant, allowing coal to be dug out of the ground and put on a conveyor that will run directly into the power plant. Its combined design efficiencies will allow the plant to produce nearly 2.5 million fewer tons of carbon dioxide each year than the electricity generation it is projected to replace, according to the ownership group. The plant will use “supercritical” steam technology (operating at temperatures and pressures above the critical point) to boost efficiency. It is scheduled to open its first unit in August 2011, and its second unit is set to begin operation the following spring. More than 2,700 people have been employed during the plant’s construction. When completed, the combined plant and mine will employ more than 500 people. “Our goal is to hire local workers and use local coal,” said Sheri Bilderback, manager of public relations for Prairie State Generating Co. “It lowers transportation costs, as well as carbon dioxide emissions.” Another energy project in the region is the FutureGen project, located in Mattoon, Ill., in Coles County. The site was selected in 2007 by the U.S. Department of Energy to be home to the first of its kind coal-fueled power plant to produce electricity and hydrogen with nearly zero emissions. Facility construction is set to begin in 2010, and the plant startup is scheduled for 2012. The $1.5 billion project is a government-industry partnership between the Department of Energy and the FutureGen Alliance, a consortium of the world’s largest coal and energy producers. Illinois competed with 12 sites in seven states for the facility. “The fact we are in the center of the country with access to barge traffic, rail lines, as well as four to five major highways, gave us an advantage,” McKeehan said. “In addition, we have people experienced in energy production. That’s why we have been successful.” Annemarie Schumacher is a St. Louis freelance writer |
Prairie State Energy Campus
