Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center

As the United States’ electricity needs grow, so does the call for new technologically innovative power plants that generate electricity by using abundant, inexpensive coal in ways that significantly reduce the release of emissions.

Tenaska, Inc., an experienced energy developer, is evaluating a site east of Sweetwater, Texas, in which to construct and operate the Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center, a next-generation power generating station. From day one, the Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center, fueled by low-sulfur coal, will capture carbon dioxide (CO₂), a greenhouse gas considered by many to be associated with global warming, and provide for its geologic storage. No new conventional coal-fueled power plant in the United States today utilizes carbon management technology on a commercial scale.

The Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center will generate approximately 765 megawatts (MW) gross and 600 MW net, using best available supercritical steam, pulverized coal technology. Six hundred megawatts is enough power to meet the around-the-clock needs of approximately 600,000 homes. This plant will be designed to capture 85 to 90 percent of the carbon dioxide produced by combustion and deliver it via pipeline to Permian Basin oil fields for use in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and ultimately, geologic storage.

Economic Impact

If built in Texas, a leading economic consultant estimates that the Trailblazer Energy Center would:

•	Generate $742 million in local economic activity during construction;
•	Boost the local economy, spending more than $2 billion for construction out of a total estimated project cost of more than $3 billion;
•	Provide 1,500 to 2,000 jobs at peak construction; more than 100 permanent well-paying jobs; and indirectly provide an additional 71 jobs due to increased local contract services and other forms of spending;
•	Increase taxable property in Nolan County by approximately 50 percent and pay millions in taxes during construction and over the 50-year life of the project;
•	Help sustain enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in the Permian Basin, adding more than 10 million barrels of oil production annually to the West Texas economy and reducing dependence on foreign oil.