The FutureGen Alliance selected Matoon, Illinois as their site for their near-zero-emission coal fired power plant. The FutureGen Alliance is a partnership of public and private organizations that seeks to develop clean energy technologies based on coal.

The site selection for their experimental plant was seen as a major step forward for the project, which aims to start generating electricity in 2012. Within hours of announcing the selection a representative from the Department of Energy cautioned about spending on the project.

Deputy Assistant Secretary For Fossil Energy James Slutz made the following statements.

“As the Department of Energy (DOE) has discussed with the FutureGen Alliance for the past several months, projected cost overruns require a reassessment of FutureGen’s design.”

“DOE believes that the public interest mandates that FutureGen deliver the greatest possible technological benefits in the most cost-efficient manner. This will require restructuring FutureGen to maximize the role of private sector innovation, facilitate the most productive public-private partnership, and prevent further cost escalation.”

This is a obviously a statement indicating the project is going way over budget. The most telling message is the desire to, “…maximize the role of private sector innovation…” So not only is the project over budget but the DOE would also like the private sector partners to contribute a larger percentage of the funds required to continue.

We don’t know what this means with respect to the timeline of the FutureGen project. The Department of Energy will release details on the restructuring in January of 2008.