Houston Firm Cancels Coal-Gasification Plant - Too Expensive - Will Go With Natural Gas Instead

[hatrack]

A Houston energy company said that it will shelve plans to build a coal gasification plant in Corpus Christi because the technology is too expensive.

Tondu Corp. will build a natural gas power plant instead, and it hopes to convert to the clean coal technology known as integrated gasification combined cycle in the future.

Tondu would have been the first company in Texas to use the coal technology that environmental groups have endorsed.

Joe Tondu, head of the company, said he expected the plant to cost around $1.5 billion, but it was going to be costly just to hire a vendor and construction company to come up with a firm estimate.

EDIT

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-coalgas_14bus.ART.State.Edition2.433a10f.html