Sep. 18--Southern Company announced Thursday that China will be the site for the first worldwide commercial implementation of Transport Integrated Gasification (TRIGâ?¢) technology for producing low-emission coal-based electricity.

Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, is currently seeking regulatory approval to build a 582-megawatt plant using TRIG technology in Kemper County that would include 65 percent carbon capture and sequestration.

Southern Company describes TRIG as an advanced integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology that produces electricity with lower emissions than traditional coal power plants that also is compatible with lower rank coals that are abundant in China.

According to a press release issued Thursday by Southern Company, the technology was developed by Southern Company, KBR Inc., and other partners, including the U.S. Department of Energy, at the DOE's research facility in Wilsonville, Ala., that is managed and operated by Southern Company.

Under the terms of the technology licensing arrangements with KBR Inc., the companies will provide Beijing Guoneng Yinghui Clean Energy Engineering Co., Ltd. with licensing, engineering services and proprietary equipment for the implementation of TRIG technology at a power plant operated by Dongguan Tianming Electric Power Co., Ltd. (Dongguan TMEP) in Guandong Province, Peoples Republic of China.

"China's rapid growth vividly demonstrates the global need for advanced technologies to ensure reliable, affordable and cleaner supplies of energy," said Southern Company Chairman, President and CEO David Ratcliffe. "This plant will demonstrate that TRIG offers an effective technological solution to these challenges."

The 120-megawatt Dongguan TMEP plant is expected to begin operation in 2011.

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