Department of Energy puts up $39M for 17 coal projects
Despite increasing shifts in the power sector toward greener measures, the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Fuel Energy (FE) this week announced investments of $39 million into 17 projects meant to improve various elements of existing coal plants.
“Coal-fired power plants represent the second-largest energy source for electricity generation in the United States,” Steven Winberg, Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy, said. “The Trump Administration remains committed to ensuring a coal-fueled power plant fleet that provides stable energy to the power grid.”
Selections were made as part of the larger DOE Transformative Power Generation Program and Crosscutting Research Program. Both are dedicated to advancing the performance, reliability, and flexibility of coal-fired power. More specifically, the DOE hopes to improve the average modeled efficiency of typical coal plants by 5 percent over their 2017 baselines by the end of 2020.
To do this, the funds will go toward projects that address three primary concerns: sensors, diagnostics, and controls that improve prediction, performance, and reliability; power plant component improvement; and data analytics-driven controls.
