With respect to new generating technology, AEP has indicated a desire to build large commercial-scale clean-coal plants using IGCC technology. Previously announced plans to build IGCC facilities in Ohio and West Virginia are on hold because the company has been unable to obtain regulatory approvals assuring cost recovery for these projects.
We believe that IGCC technology offers a variety of compelling technological advantages in the race to develop new power generation options in a carbon-constrained world.
- View more information on IGCC Technology
AEP has started building one of the first ultra-supercritical (USC) coal-fired units in the nation. The John W. Turk Jr. Plant is under construction in Hempstead County, Arkansas.
USC generation operates at greatly elevated steam temperatures and pressures, making the turbine cycle more efficient, thereby reducing coal consumption and, in turn, emissions levels.
Early supercritical units – such as AEP's Philo Unit 6 – successfully operated at similar elevated temperatures and pressures. However, in that era, metals that could tolerate extreme temperatures over sustained periods of operation were not available. Today’s chrome and nickel-based “super alloys” can perform under these operating conditions for prolonged periods, making USC a practical design for new, more efficient coal-fired power plants.
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