What is the difference between the Swan Hills ISCG/Sagitawah Power Project and Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC)?
With the Swan Hills ISCG/Sagitawah Power Project, coal is gasified in-situ, eliminating the need for a costly coal mine and coal handling. Also, with ISCG-power systems, a high degree of integration is not required between the ISCG and power generation components, allowing each to be sited optimally for their own benefit. ISCG – power systems are much simpler and substantially less expensive to build and operate, and are more environmentally favorable than and IGCC system with similar outputs. In IGCC, coal must be mined, transported, stored, and prepared before being fed into a costly surface gasification infrastructure. Unlike ISCG, which utilizes non-fresh water, IGCC plants require fresh water in their gasification process. IGCC plants also require a high degree of expensive integration between the gasification and power generation components, resulting in the need to co-locate these components.
