| Kemper Project | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Location of Kemper Project in Mississippi | |
| Official name | Kemper County energy facility |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Kemper County, Mississippi |
| Coordinates | 32°39′4.45″N 88°45′32.5″W / 32.6512361°N 88.759028°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | June 3, 2010 |
| Construction cost | $6.7 billion[1] |
| Owners | |
| Thermal power station | |
| Primary fuel | Natural gas |
| Power generation | |
| Units under const. | 582-megawatt |
| Nameplate capacity | 582-megawatt electric |
| External links | |
| Website | Official website |
The Kemper Project, also called the Kemper County energy facility or Plant Ratcliffe, is a natural gas-fired electrical generating station currently under construction in Kemper County, Mississippi. Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, began construction of the plant in 2010.[3] The initial, coal-fired project was central to President Obama's Climate Plan, as it was to be based on "clean coal"[4] and was being considered for more support from the Congress and the incoming Trump Administration in late 2016.[5] If it had become operational with coal, the Kemper Project would have been a first-of-its-kind electricity plant to employ gasification and carbon capture technologies at this scale.[6]
Project management problems had been noted at the Kemper Project.[4] The plant was supposed to be in service by May 2014, at a cost of $2.4 billion. As of June 2017, the project was still not in service, and the cost had increased to $7.5 billion.[7] According to a Sierra Club analysis, Kemper is the most expensive power plant ever built, based on its generating capacity.[8] In June 2017, Southern Company and Mississippi Power announced that the Kemper project would switch to burning only natural gas in an effort to manage costs.[9]
- ^ "Mississippi Power: SEC investigating Kemper project". Clarion-Ledger. Associated Press. May 6, 2016. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
smepa-pullswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Public Service Commission to consider Mississippi Power Kemper rate increase on Tuesday". gulflive.com. March 4, 2013.
- ^ a b Ian Urbina. Piles of dirty secrets behind model "clean coal" project, The New York Times, July 5, 2016.
- ^ Smith, Rebecca, "Troubled Coal-Fired Plant Could Get New Lifeline" (subscription), Wall Street Journal, December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
- ^ Goldenberg, Suzanne (March 12, 2014). "Can Kemper become the first US power plant to use 'clean coal'?". The Guardian. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
- ^ Swartz, Kristi (June 22, 2017). "Southern Co.'s clean coal plant hits a dead end". EE News. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
- ^ Drajem, Mark (April 14, 2014). "Coal's Best Hope Rising With Costliest U.S. Power Plant". Bloomberg Business.
- ^ Geuss, Megan (June 29, 2017). "$7.5 billion Kemper power plant suspends coal gasification". Ars Technica. Retrieved July 1, 2017.