SCS Energy Cancels 750-MW Coal Gasification Plant with Carbon Storage

A 750-MW coal gasification plant with carbon sequestration proposed to be built in in Linden, N.J., is no longer under development, owner SCS Energy says on its website. The company said it has moved the commercial structure and process design for the PurGen project to the Hydrogen Energy California project, a fossil fuel gasification plant with carbon storage proposed for Kern County, Calif.

SCS bought the Hydrogen Energy California project from the original developers, BP and Rio Tinto, and “is modifying the design to include the SCS Energy polygeneration approach to make the project stronger economically,” the company said. “The project will produce power as well as fertilizer and sulfur.”

The plant had been opposed by a coalition comprising 37 environmental and social groups dubbed the "Stop PurGen Coalition." The group hailed the announcement on the Massachusetts-based company’s website, calling it a "momentous victory for the community of Linden, an environmental justice area that is already burdened with excessive pollution."

The group claimed in a statement that the plant would have cost nearly $5 billion in public subsidies.

Sources: POWERnews, SCS Energy, Sierra Club

—Sonal Patel, Senior Writer (@POWERmagazine)