Evergreen, partners advance Indonesia coal refinery project

Denver-based frim Evergreen Energy Inc. announced o Thursday that it and strategic partner Sumitomo Corporation and a major Indonesian mining group have agreed to advance their joint K-Fuel? coal refinery project on Kalimantan Island to the next round of detailed analysis necessary before making a decision to develop a comprehensive plant design.

The proposed K-Fuel refinery would upgrade Kalimantan Island sub-bituminous coal before shipment to Asian markets.

Together, the three companies have spent the past year examining engineering specifications, economic factors, market conditions and coal testing results related to the project. The yearlong effort provided critical information to the partners and identified additional key areas in need of more detailed investigation before reaching a decision to develop a detailed plant design, the company said.

In addition, some Japanese utility companies have expressed interest in the project, it claimed.

Evergreen, Sumitomo and the Indonesian mining group will share the costs of this next round of development work.

The K-Fuel process will upgrade sub-bituminous and lignite coals to performance levels approaching bituminous coal. A 2007 test found that Kalimantan coal worked well with the K-Fuel process, which significantly raised the coal?s heating value. Compared to the raw coal drawn from the mines, the K-Fuel refined coal had 64 percent less moisture, 56 percent less mercury and a 52 percent increase in heating value.(alex)