Integrated Gasification
Combined Cycle (IGCC)
In August 2004, AEP announced plans to construct an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plant and place it in commercial operation by 2010. It will be the largest commercial-scale IGCC plant in the U.S. and the world.
IGCC is a clean coal technology that turns coal into a gas, and then removes impurities from the coal gas before it is combusted. This results in lower emissions of sulfur dioxide, particulates and mercury. It also results in improved efficiency compared to conventional pulverized coal. Because coal is America’s most abundant energy source, the environmental benefits of this technology are strategically important to AEP, as well as the nation.
The IGCC plant, along with the environmental improvements AEP is making on its existing coal-fired fleet, will keep AEP as a low-cost, low-emissions electricity supplier in the future.
AEP will build one or more IGCC units, providing that costs can be recovered through the regulatory process.
