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Peabody Energy today released modeled emissions data for its proposed Thoroughbred Energy Campus that show Thoroughbred will have no significant contribution to the area's scenic views and will be the lowest-emitting pulverized coal plant of its size east of the Mississippi River. The power plant has been designed with an industry leading application of advanced environmental controls to protect air quality.

Thoroughbred's emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) will be 82 percent below the average SO2 emission rate for Kentucky coal plants. Its nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions will be 82 percent below the Kentucky coal plant average, and virtually all particulates will be removed. Kentucky emissions data is drawn from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency environmental database.

At the same time, the latest air quality modeling data shows that the plant will have no significant visibility impacts at Mammoth Cave National Park. Additional modeling performed at the request of the National Park Service indicated only one day in two years of modeling that was slightly above the recommended guideline.

Thoroughbred will use an industry leading application of control technologies that include:

    -- Low-NOx burners and selective catalytic reduction to remove
       nitrogen oxides
    -- Dry electrostatic precipitators to remove particulates as well as
       some mercury
    -- Limestone flue gas desulfurization to "scrub" sulfur dioxide and as
       well as remove some mercury
    -- Wet electrostatic precipitators to remove fine particulates, sulfuric
       acid mist and other constituents

The Thoroughbred Energy Campus is a planned 1,500 megawatt coal-fueled electricity generation project near Central City in Muhlenberg County, Ky. The generating plant would include two 750-megawatt units fueled by up to 6 million tons of coal per year produced from an adjacent underground mine. It would begin generating power in the 2005 to 2006 timeframe.

"Developing the Thoroughbred Generating Station is in the public interest," said Roger Walcott, Peabody executive vice president for corporate development. "The facility represents a new generation of coal-fueled power plants designed to provide low-cost electricity to meet growing energy needs while continuing to achieve the nation's environmental goals."

Electricity from the plant will be made available on the grid and delivered to approximately 1.5 million families in Kentucky and elsewhere throughout the Midwest. The plant is modeled to dispatch at a cost that is lower than all of the region's coal plants, all of the region's gas plants and below some nuclear plants.

"Thoroughbred will benefit Kentuckians by continuing to help keep energy prices lower than anywhere else in the nation," said Walcott. "The project balances energy and economic needs with environmental goals using advanced coal technologies."

The project is expected to accelerate economic growth in the region, creating more than 450 permanent high-paying jobs and employing up to 2,500 workers at peak construction. Once on-line, the campus could create more than 450 permanent jobs and deliver enormous local and state economic benefits through wages, benefits and taxes.

A graph of the 2000 average coal-based emissions is available online at http://www.peabodyenergy.com/operationsproducts/thoroughbred.html .

Peabody Energy is the world's largest private-sector coal company. Its coal products fuel more than 9 percent of all U.S. electricity generation and more than 2 percent of worldwide electricity generation.

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SOURCE: Peabody Energy