The U.S. Department of Energy and Energy International Inc., Pittsburgh, have agreed to terminate a Wyoming in situ coal gasification project because of cost overruns.
The project near Rawlins, Wyo., was being designed to burn 500-1,000 tons/day of coal in place and pipe gas to the surface to produce anhydrous ammonia.
The project's cost, originally estimated at $70 million, rose to $113.4 million as preliminary design progressed.
DOE, which had proposed to provide $11.7 million of the original cost estimate, had provided $3.3 million by the end of 1989 for design and other preliminary work.
The project was one of nine DOE picked in 1986 under the Clean Coal Technology Program's first round of competition.
DOE reviewed the projects last June and gave Energy International 6 months to restructure and obtain financial backing. The company notified DOE last Dec. 29 it had been unsuccessful.
DOE last month chose 13 more clean coal technology projects in its third round of competition, bringing the program to 39 projects planned or operating in 19 states (OGJ, Jan. 1, p. 26).
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