New Zealand-based metallurgical coal producer Solid Energy plans to build and commission, by the beginning of 2011, a NZ$22 million (US$15.2 million) underground coal gasification (UCG) pilot plant in Waikato.
According to the company press release, the successful application of the UCG process will open up access to coal seams which would otherwise be nearly impossible to mine using conventional mining technology.
Solid Energy will shortly lodge the necessary consent applications to build and operate the UCG plant which will convert up to 30,000 mt of coal into synthetic gas (syngas). The pilot plant will operate for up to two years on private property within the company's existing Huntly West Coal Mining Licence area. Working with technology supplier Ergo Exergy, the construction will begin on the proposed plant once consents are granted.
The UCG process gasifies coal very deep underground, producing syngas that can be used in electricity generation, the production of pure hydrogen and to make a range of high-value products such as methanol, synthetic transport fuel, fertilizers or waxes, plastics and detergents.