Alaska's Attempt at Clean Coal Technology Proves Costly, Problematic

An explosion on Nov. 2 forced GVEA to shut down the power plant earlier this month after struggling with a number of mishaps that have kept Golden Valley from bringing the Healy 2 plant online.

1 minute read

December 1, 2016, 8:00 AM PST

By urbanguy

Dan Bross, reporting from KUAC in Fairbanks, Alaska, notes: "Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA) has invested more than $175 million to buy and upgrade the plant since the purchase was finalized in 2013. The 50-megawatt plant was built by state and federal agencies at a cost of more $300 million to demonstrate technology that advocates said would use low-grade coal to generate electricity with less pollution. But it was never able to consistently do that and plagued with problems, so the agencies mothballed it in 2000. The unusual design of the plant makes it hard for GVEA to resolve many of its issues." Restarting Healy unit 2 "has become a much more difficult, perplexing effort than we had anticipated or hoped for,” a company spokesperson said.

FULL STORY: Small explosion delays Healy 2 startup

Wednesday, November 23, 2016 in Alaska Public Media

Community / Economic Development Energy Environment Infrastructure Technology United States Alaska Fairbanks Clean Coal Golden Valley Electric Association Coal Power Plants View More

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