Southern Co. announces syngas milestone

Southern Co. has announced that its subsidiary, Mississippi Power, has started producing syngas using lignite at the Kemper County energy facility.

The successful production of syngas demonstrates the viability of the Transport Integrated Gasification (TRIG™) technology.

"This is a major achievement for the Kemper project, and I am very proud of everyone who has worked safely and tirelessly to overcome challenges and reach this important point," said Mississippi Power President and CEO, Anthony Wilson. "Producing syngas from Mississippi's own abundant natural resource – lignite – should be encouraging to our customers, communities and energy companies around the world. This proves that Kemper's technology can provide a way forward for coal and puts us a step closer to full plant operation."

An integral aspect of the plant's operations, syngas is created when locally mined lignite is heated at high temperatures in the plant's gasifiers, converting the coal to gas. To produce electricity, the plant is designed to use syngas similarly to natural gas to power a turbine.

The TRIG coal gasification technology deployed at the plant was jointly developed by Southern Co., KBR and the US Department of Energy over the past two decades at the Power Systems Development Facility, an Alabama-based research facility operated by Southern Co.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/18072016/southern-co-subsidiary-announces-syngas-production-milestone-2782/