Environmental Project

Environmental groups say an EIS is needed for the San Juan carbon capture project

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A group of nine environmental organizations sent a letter to the Department of Energy secretary requesting the initiation of a multi-agency environmental impact statement looking at Enchant Energy’s proposal to retrofit the San Juan Generating Station with carbon capture technology. If an EIS is required, it would delay the project substantially, but the environmental advocates point out that similar projects have gone through the process. The carbon capture retrofit will prevent the loss of tax revenue in San Juan County and preserve jobs at the coal mine and power plant. However, critics say it is an expensive project and it is unclear who will buy the electricity if it is successful. 

Related: Critics: San Juan Generating Station carbon capture proposal ‘overly optimistic’

“Enchant Energy is actively working on securing the environmental and other permits needed for the project to add carbon capture at San Juan Generating Station with the appropriate federal, state, and local agencies,” said company CEO Cindy Crane in a statement emailed to NM Political Report. “This project directly addresses the need for sustainable, reliable, low-carbon power generation necessary to meet climate change emissions goals.

carbon capture

Critics: San Juan Generating Station carbon capture proposal ‘overly optimistic’

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Energy engineer and consultant David Schlissel questioned some of the claims presented by Enchant Energy and consulting firm Sargent & Lundy on the feasibility of retrofitting the San Juan Generating Station with carbon capture system technology. PNM, the majority stakeholder in the plant, plans to shutter the facility by 2022 as part of the utility’s wider goal of ending all coal-fired power generation in its portfolio by 2031. That strategy aligns with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Energy Transition Act (ETA) law, which would require 50 percent of the state’s electricity generation to come from renewable energy sources by 2030. 

Enchant Energy has proposed acquiring 95 percent of the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station to install a carbon capture system that it says would offer a cost-effective, low-emission solution to keep the coal-fired plant open beyond 2022. Schlissel testified his concerns about the proposal before the Public Regulation Commission in response to the recent testimony of PRC staff witness Dhiraj Solomon, acting engineering bureau chief of PRC’s utility division. Solomon argued that a carbon capture system would enable the plant to operate within the emission requirements of the ETA.  

Sierra Club filed Schlissel’s testimony with the PRC late last week.

carbon capture

Energy think tank blasts carbon capture proposal for San Juan coal plant

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An energy market think tank has dubbed the carbon capture proposal for the San Juan Generating Station, the Northwestern New Mexico coal-fired power plant which is closing soon, a “false hope.”

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), an Ohio-based energy think tank, recently published a scathingly critical report about Enchant Energy’s proposal to use carbon capture technology to keep the coal-fired power plant open and operating. PNM, the majority stakeholder in the San Juan plant, plans to shutter the facility by 2022 as part of the utility’s wider goal of ending all coal-fired power generation in its portfolio by 2031. That strategy aligns with Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Energy Transition Act (ETA) law, which would see the state generate 50 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030. The City of Farmington announced in February that it reached an agreement with Enchant Energy to keep the plant open. The company is an unknown firm in the energy sector and a newcomer to the state.