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The group said late last week that it had finalized the sale for the land in Mattoon, Illinois, to Coles Together for $US700,000.
It originally purchased the property from Coles Together for $3.5 million.
The funds from the sale will be redirected into the new FutureGen 2.0 project and Coles Together will move ahead with economic development for the site.
“The site has several features that make it exceptional for future economic development including excellent transportation access and proximity to gas, electric, and water supplies,” Alliance chief executive officer Ken Humphreys said.
“In addition, it has a completed environmental impact statement, which could shave considerable time off a future construction project.
“Coles Together and the Mattoon community have been invaluable partners in developing the FutureGen project and we know they will provide the same cooperation and enthusiasm to any organization that develops the site as they have to the Alliance.”
Coles Together president Angela Griffin said the sale’s completion was bittersweet.
“The recent real estate transaction effectively provides for local ownership and management of the entire 440-acre site and allows Coles Together to market the site unconstrained by third-party interests,” she said.
“However, it also marks the end of a dynamic professional association with the members of the FutureGen Alliance, all of whom continue to be friends of Coles County and advocates for the development of clean energy projects regardless of the Illinois zip code.”
FutureGen 2.0 is set to be a first-of-its-kind near-zero emissions power plant – the design plan includes the upgrading the Meredosia Energy Center’s Unit 4 with oxy-combustion technology to capture approximately 90% of the plant’s carbon emissions.
Using safe and proven pipeline technology, the CO2 will then be transported and stored underground permanently at a nearby storage site.
FutureGen 2.0 has a total price tag of $1.3 billion – $1 billion of which has been committed in federal funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
It is a smaller version of the original FutureGen project.
