Release Date: January 22, 2001

MORGANTOWN, WV - The Department of Energy has set January 31, 2001, as the target date for issuing its formal call for industry proposals in a fast-track, power plant improvement program that could help reduce future brownouts and blackouts.

The department's National Energy Technology Laboratory, which is coordinating the $95 million federal initiative, has also scheduled a public "pre-application conference" 10 a.m. on February 15 at the laboratory's conference center in Morgantown, WV. Proceedings will be "webcast" live over the Internet.

The department also said it will accelerate its review of proposals which will be due in mid-April. The department had originally set early October for naming winning projects but will now move that date to late August or early September in an effort to get projects underway as soon as possible.

Congress included the "Power Plant Improvement Initiative" in its FY 2001 appropriations for the department's Office of Fossil Energy as an effort to improve the efficiency, reliability, and environmental performance of the nation's coal-fired power fleet. Coal-based power plants currently supply 55 percent of the nation's electricity. The initiative has taken on added importance as California and other parts of the country struggle with sharp rises in electricity prices and the prospects of increasing power supply disruptions.

Federal funding for the initiative, which must be at least matched by winning companies, will go to advance technologies that boost the efficiencies of existing coal-fired power plants - in effect, generating more megawatts from the same amount of fuel - or that lower emissions and allow plants to continue operating under strict environmental standards. Technologies that can be applied to new coal-fired power plants will also be eligible.

Proposed technologies must be mature enough to be deployed commercially within the next few years, and the demonstration projects must be large enough to show that the technology is ready for commercial use. The proposed technologies must also offer advancements in performance or cost-competitiveness that are well beyond today's power plant technologies.

The Energy Department posted an early draft of the planned solicitation on its National Energy Technology Laboratory web site on December 7, 2000, and asked prospective proposers and others to comment on the proposed initiative. A public comment meeting was subsequently held, and the department has posted responses to questions raised at the meeting.

A complete set of information on the "Power Plant Improvement Initiative," including the draft solicitation, is available at:

http://www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/coalpower/cctc/PPII/index.html

Web users who want to listen to the Internet broadcast of the February 15 pre-application conference should register at this web site by February 14.