The governors of the three US states entered into a formal agreement to support efforts to secure the 275MW power plant facility, proposed by the FutureGen Industrial Alliance and the US Department of Energy.

Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky will support each other through the evaluation process to increase the chance of the plant being constructed locally. The initiative was spearheaded by Pennsylvania Governor Edward G Rendell and has the support of Ohio Governor Bob Taft and Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher.

The governors also agreed to create an Ohio River Valley Coal Research Consortium of the states’ major universities – Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania State University and the University of Pittsburgh – as well as other research organisations.

The consortium will advance the research objectives of FutureGen, provide review mechanisms for spin-off research projects, help transfer technological developments to industry and facilitate ongoing research collaborations.

FutureGen will provide an opportunity to demonstrate cutting-edge clean-coal technology and could create new markets for the vast coal reserves in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Ohio.

At least nine US states are thought to be competing for FutureGen and will be submitting formal proposals to the FutureGen Industrial Alliance by May 4.