Coal gasification project announced for South Heart site

(11/26/07)

The North Dakota Industrial Commission and representatives from Great Northern Power Development, L.P. (GNPD) and Allied Syngas Corporation (Allied Syngas) recently announced a $1.4 billion coal gasification project at South Heart to produce pipeline quality natural gas. This project has the potential to provide more than 200 skilled jobs to the area.

The project was announced in conjunction with the Industrial Commission’s approval of the final installment of a $10 million grant to GNPD through the Lignite Vision 21 (LV21) program. Administered by the Industrial Commission, LV21 is designed to meet the region’s growing energy needs and to revitalize the lignite industry by providing matching funds to lignite based projects.

The South Heart project is being developed through a joint venture between GNPD and Allied Syngas. Both GNPD and Allied Syngas have affiliated companies that bring additional strategic value to the project. Great Northern Properties Limited Partnership is an affiliate of GNPD that owns a substantial amount of the coal reserves to be used to fuel the project.  Envirotherm GmbH (Envirotherm) is an affiliate of Allied Syngas and is a co-owner of the advanced gasification technology that will be applied to the project.

“This project is about the future and will bring an important economic boost to southwestern North Dakota,” said Gov. John Hoeven. “When you look at the Beulah or Underwood areas, you see how energy projects benefit our small communities and rural areas. Further, this project will be designed to capture and sequester carbon dioxide produced in the gasification process. That means more energy for the nation, with good environmental stewardship and quality jobs in North Dakota.”

“The LV21 Program is a partnership between the State and the private sector in promoting the development of North Dakota’s valuable natural resources,” said Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem.  “Working together North Dakota, GNPD and Allied Syngas can reduce the nation’s reliance on foreign imports.”    

“This is the kind of coal development that North Dakota should be promoting,” said Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson.  “Gasification is proven technology and provides a great opportunity to strip the CO2 stream off of the gas as it is cleaned up for transport via pipeline.  Furthermore, this location is strategically located right on top of oil fields that can use the CO2 for enhanced oil recovery.”

The South Heart project will use state-of-the-art technology that has been developed and proven over the last 25 years. The BGL technology is owned jointly by Advantica Limited (Advantica) and Allied Syngas’s affiliate, Envirotherm. Advantica and Envirotherm will provide the technology license, process design and related technical support for the gasification process.