The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced a $625 million investment to expand and reinvigorate America’s coal industry, aiming to boost energy production and support coal communities.
“Beautiful, clean coal will be essential to powering America’s reindustrialization and winning the AI race,” Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said. “These funds will help keep our nation’s coal plants operating and will be vital to keeping electricity prices low and the lights on without interruption.”
The allocation of the $625 million breaks down as follows:
- $350 million for projects to demonstrate readiness to recommission or modernize coal power units and provide near-term electric power reliability and capacity
- $175 million for coal power projects that provide direct benefits of energy affordability, reliability, and resiliency in rural communities
- $50 million to support the development and implementation of advanced wastewater management systems demonstrating scalable, cost-effective systems that enable coal plants to extend their service life, reduce operational costs, and enhance commercial byproduct recovery
- $25 million for engineering and implementation of dual-firing retrofits to enable coal power plants to seamlessly switch between fuels
- $25 million for the development and testing of natural-gas cofiring systems, supporting investments that will maintain boiler efficiency and reliability when using 100% natural gas
On 8 April, the DOE announced a series of actions it is taking to increase American coal production. An executive order had called for Wright to take action to accelerate the development, deployment, and commercialization of coal technologies.
The order also gave the secretaries of the DOE and the US Department of the Interior (DOI) authority to determine whether coal used in the production of steel is defined as a “critical mineral,” and if so, takes steps to place it on DOE and DOI Critical Minerals Lists. On 23 May, Wright announced the designation of metallurgical coal as a Critical Mineral.