NRG Texas LLC, a subsidiary of NRG Energy Inc., has reached agreements with the Texas Clean Air Cities Coalition (TCACC) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) in which EDF and TCACC have agreed to drop their opposition to the Limestone 3 permit application in response to a number of commitments by NRG Texas related to emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and mercury, and to other environmental issues, including reductions in water usage.
‘The Limestone expansion is part of our program to invest in Texas with a balanced portfolio of nuclear, gas, wind and coal,’ says Thad Hill, president of NRG Texas. ‘We have appreciated working with Environmental Defense Fund and the TCACC to bring this additional power to Texas in an environmentally responsible manner and dramatically lower overall average emissions including CO2.’
In an effort to reduce emissions, NRG Texas will offset or sequester 50% of the carbon generated by the new unit in a manner that is verifiable, which makes the carbon profile of this coal-fueled plant roughly equivalent to that of a gas-fueled plant. Offsetting efforts could include agricultural and forestry sequestration; retiring older, less efficient generation assets; bringing new wind or solar generation online; and post-combustion carbon capture and sequestration technology at the WA Parish Plant.
The company also will not build another coal-fueled plant in Texas unless the plant uses integrated gasification combined cycle, or ultra-supercritical coal technology, and sequesters or offsets at least 50% of the CO2 emissions of that future plant.
SOURCE: NRG Energy Inc.
