IGCC in the News
FutureGen and Politics-
Question raised whether
changes in project involved
conflict of interests
Just when it seemed that FutureGen was on track for a new life, politics raises its ugly head with questions of DOE integrity, and charges of conflict
of interest, in decision to change technology,
contractors and location.
How ugly is it?
James Wood, DOE Asst. Deputy for Clean Coal,
has become target of suggested impropriety.
He recently came to DOE from Babcock Power.
Yet his past association with Babcock & Wilcox,
where he was president from 1996-2001, is being
cited as possibly having influenced the DOE
decision to tap B&W as new FutureGen lead
contractor.
Although DOE has denied any conflict, issues
raised by those opposed to changes further
tarnish troubled project.
Meanwhile, Mattoon pulls out of project and
DOE is looking for new site for CO2 storage.
(Adapted from AP release)
DOE official once led firm
now redoing FutureGen
By David Mercer (AP)
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A top official in the Department of Energy office who oversees the FutureGen clean-coal project is a past CEO of a company newly chosen to retrofit a western Illinois power plant instead of finishing the original project in Mattoon.
Critics of the decision to change FutureGen worry that the official, James F. Wood, could benefit from his past leadership at the company and that he shouldn't have been part of the decision.
James F. Wood, who is deputy assistant secretary for clean coal in the Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy, was president of Babcock & Wilcox Company from 1996-2001. (Ed. note: see below for clarification regarding most recent relationship with Babcock Power not B&W.)
North Carolina-based Babcock & Wilcox is one of the companies named last week by the department to retrofit a coal-fired power plant in the western Illinois under the retooled $1.2 billion FutureGen project.
The department announced the changes last week, including a decision to scrap plans to build a new, integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant in Mattoon, in eastern Illinois.
The news surprised officials in Mattoon, who this week
backed out of the project and its new role as storage site for carbon dioxide from the retrofitted plant in Meredosia, Ill.
The Department of Energy did not make Wood available for an interview, but said its internal vetting process found he had no potential conflicts of interest. (Ed: See update below.)
"Jim Wood worked for Babcock and Wilcox almost a decade ago and has no financial interest in the company," agency spokeswoman Stephanie Mueller wrote in an e-mail.
Details about Wood's role in the decision to change FutureGen aren't clear but, according to the department, he oversees all Office of Fossil Energy coal research and projects, including FutureGen.
It isn't clear how much of the $1.1 billion the federal government plans to contribute to the newly defined project would go to Babcock & Wilcox.
The remainder of the project cost is intended to be covered by the Energy Department's private sector partners in FutureGen - the FutureGen Industrial Alliance - a group of coal companies and other firms
who were also surprised the changes and have said little since they were announced.Wood joined the department from Babcock Power Inc., where he was CEO.
That company, in spite of the common name, isn't related to Babcock & Wilcox and actually competes with the latter in some power plant-related work, Babcock Power spokesman Jim Sims said.Political leaders and others from the Mattoon area angered by the abrupt change in FutureGen plans last week say that at the least the Energy Department should have made clear that Woods had ties, no matter how old, to a key company that was involved.
"I think that's the real issue here"" said state Sen. Dale Righter, a Republican who lives in Mattoon and has been involved in the area's pursuit of a place in the FutureGen project for several years.
A spokesman for Illinois Sen Dick Durbin wasn't aware of Wood's past position or his role in FutureGen but also argued that there's no reason for him not to work on the project for the Department of Energy.
"They (the DOE) hire people with industry experience," Joe Shoemaker said.
The Energy Department and Durbin last week announced that Babcock & Wilcox and another firm, Air Liquide Process & Construction Inc. of Texas, will retrofit a coal-fired plant in Meredosia, Ill., that belongs to Ameren Corp.
The change ended plans to build a new plant in Mattoon intended to prove that coal could produce electricity through a technology called Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC), with the carbon dioxide from the fuel removed and safely stored underground.
Durbin and the Department of Energy say delays in Futuregen have allowed several other similar projects to bypass it, leading them to focus instead on another technology, oxy-combustion, that could be used to add life to existing coal plants.
Carbon dioxide from that process would still be stored underground, and would have been piped about 175 miles to Mattoon under the new FutureGen plan. Officials there, though, decided Wednesday to pull out of the project.
The Energy Department is now looking for a new carbon storage site.The Energy Department has said this week that it chose Babcock & Wilcox because the oxy-combustion technology it will use at Meredosia — and, if it works, hopes to use on other, older plants — belongs to the company.
Documents found on the Department of Energy's Web site indicate that the company has done work with the department and Illinois' coal industry on oxy-combustion at least as far back as 2003.
There are, though, a number of other companies working with oxy-combustion, according to the International Energy Agency. At a presentation during an agency conference on oxy-combustion technology earlier this year the agency said there were 15 "large-scale" oxy-combustion power projects in the works worldwide.
UPDATE: DOE officially denies conflict of interestKurt Erickson
The Quad-City Times - Springfield, Illinois - August 11, 2010
SPRINGFIELD — The official who oversees federal clean-coal programs had no conflict of interest regarding the awarding of a contract to his former company for the revamped FutureGen project, a senior adviser at the Energy Department said Wednesday.
A day after Mattoon-area officials raised questions about the role James F. Wood played in his former company, Babcock & Wilcox, gaining a stake in the FutureGen project, Matt Rogers said Wood’s relationship had nothing to do with the award.
“That is a non-issue,” Rogers said.
The engineering and industrial retrofitting company was tapped by the department last week to help upgrade a coal-fired power plant in Meredosia as part of a clean coal demonstration project.
Wood, the deputy assistant secretary for clean coal, was president of North Carolina-based Babcock & Wilcox from 1996 to 2001.
“Jim Wood worked Babcock & Wilcox almost a decade ago and has no financial interest in the company,” Rogers said. “Our general counsel has had long looks at this, and there is no conflict of interest issue here at all.”
State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, and U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson raised questions about Wood’s role after the bulk of the FutureGen project was moved from Mattoon to Meredosia.
On Wednesday, after hearing Rogers’ explanation of Wood’s role, Johnson spokesman Phil Bloomer had no comment.