Huntley Generating Station

The New York Public Authority (NYPA) has accepted a proposal by NRG Energy for an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle plant in Tonawanda, New York to replace two existing plants at the Huntley Generating Station. The plant will burn Eastern coal and petroleum coke.

It will be modeled after a coal gasification plant in Japan that was built by Mitsubishi and recently began operating. The plant is conditional on cost, and construction is expected to begin in 2008 contingent on the success of the Mitsubishi plant; the potentially high cost of construction and operation may derail the project.

The plant was conditionally approved by Gov. Pataki in Dec. 2006, two weeks before he left office. In Dec. 2007, the Buffalo Building & Construction Trades Council – a local labor umbrella group – announced a construction agreement with NRG, and threw their weight behind the project.

As of March 2008, NRG Energy was facing a $430 million shortfall for the estimated $1.5 billion construction and was considering applying for financial support from the U.S. Department of Energy under a program that funds carbon capture and sequestration projects.

In July 2008, the NYPA cancelled the plant, citing the approximately $150 million in subsidies per year the plant would require in order to operate effectively.

Project Details
Sponsor: NRG Energy Location: Tonawanda, NY Capacity: 680 MW Type: IGCC Projected in service: 2013 Status: Cancelled

Financing

 * Citi
 * Merrill Lynch
 * Morgan Stanley

Citizen Groups

 * New York Sierra Club, Annie Wilson, energy [at] newyorksierraclub.org

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * New York and coal
 * United States and coal
 * Carbon Capture and Storage
 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * US proposed coal plants (both active and cancelled)
 * Coal plants cancelled in 2007
 * Coal plants cancelled in 2008
 * State-by-state guide to information on coal in the United States (or click on the map)