Wildhorse Energy Signs MoU for Underground Coal Gasification Project

Wildhorse Energy, a developer of underground coal gasification (UCG) and uranium projects in central and eastern Europe, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with E.ON Hungaria, the Hungarian arm of the Germany-based utility giant.

The non-binding agreement is to examine and evaluate the feasibility of building an UCG commercial demonstration plant in Hungary, which will be fed from Wildhorse’s flagship Mecsek Hills project.

“We believe that UCG is at the tipping point of recognition in the wider energy market,” said Matt Swinney, managing director of Wildhorse Energy. “This agreement underpins [the company’s] UCG strategy, technology and team, and highlights the commercial opportunity evident in Europe and the rest of the world for the development of UCG projects.”

Commenting on the announcement, Liberum Capital said: “The interest of a major utility player such as E.ON is encouraging and may point to the wider applicability of the technology. Wildhorse are currently working together with an E.ON team and their assessment should be completed in Q2 2013.”

Source: http://www.energyglobal.com/news/coal/articles/Wildhorse_Energy_signs_MoU_with_EON_for_UCG_project.aspx

India Achieve Collaboration with South Africa on Coal Gas Technology

India would seek to collaborate with the South African government in underground coal gasification technologies and to develop projects in India through suitable joint ventures (JVs).

According to an official in India’s Coal Ministry the request for bilateral India-South Africa cooperation would be a follow-up of a new policy for underground coal gasification, which was likely to be announced shortly.

The official said that a comprehensive policy encompassing all aspects of underground coal gasification, including  technology availability, the assessment of appropriate reserves, project implementation and the pricing of gas, had assumed urgency in view of India’s extremely tardy performance in this energy subsector and the shortage of coal available for power generation, despite the country’s huge coal reserves.

The South African government’s facilitation would be sought through either government-to-government agreements or technology and project JVs between companies, particularly for gasification of coal below depths of 300 m, the official said.

India’s first coal gasification project was initiated six years ago in the western Indian province of Gujarat as a JV between oil exploration and production major ONGC and Gujarat Industries and Power Corporation. However, the project has failed to take off.

It was pointed out that with 350-billion tons of potential coal reserves, only one-third was mineable and not one coal gasification project had been successfully implemented in India, while China had over 40 coal gasification plans running and had even moved to the next stage of converting coal to diesel.

Coal Gasification Policy Needed Before Blocks Are Allocated

The formulation of a coal gasification policy was a necessary precondition to the allocation of coal blocks, particularly against the backdrop of $33-billion in revenue charges against the exchequer brought by the national auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General, in the previous coal block allocations.

The Coal Ministry estimates that even if 5% of India’s unmineable coal reserves were to be successfully exploited for gasification, it could yield three-trillion cubic metres of gas equivalent.

While the appropriate technology was not available within the country, a pilot project has been successfully implemented, which had driven the government’s attempt to seek collaborations with countries like South Africa, an official said.

Source: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/india-seeks-collaboration-with-sa-for-coal-gasification-technology-2013-02-26

India to take a call on Underground Coal Gasification Method

India is facing extreme fuel shortage and to get rid of this major issue the Indian Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs may  think about forming a new policy on underground coal gasification.

(Read: Underground Coal Gasification Survey)

As per reliable source, that CCEA may soon take a call on formation of a policy for converting the coal at the depth of below 300 metres to gas. Underground coal gasification is a method of converting coal still in the ground to a combustible gas that can be used for various uses including power generation.

The Coal Ministry moved a Cabinet note on a policy for underground coal gasification and has received comments from the various ministries on the same.

After the policy is finalised, the blocks for coal gasification would be identified and expression of interest for allocating the blocks to the companies would be invited, the source said on the conditions of anonymity. Only those companies having a net worth of at least INR 200 crore would qualify to apply for those blocks.

Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal coal minister of India had also earlier sought cooperation of countries like South Africa for underground coal gasification technologies. Earlier, the minister had hinted that there was a proposal to bring out appropriate guidelines for implementing underground coal gasification projects in the country. The gap in the demand and supply of coal which widened to 161.5 million tonne in the last fiscal is likely to touch 200 million tonne by 2016 to 2017.


Source: http://www.coalguru.com/india/cabinet_to_take_a_call_on_ug_coal_gasification_policy_soon/7696