Super Gen could come to Texas

Amanda Nobles talks on Super Gen at Lions Club. NEWS HERALD PHOTO BY LESTER MURRAY Amanda Nobles, director of Kilgore Economic Development Corporation, told Kilgore Lions Club members this week that SuperGen could provide a significant boost to the East Texas economy.

Nobles said the Super Gen project, which is still in its infancy, could be a great opportunity for Texas and – if the Palestine/ Anderson County site is selected – could be beneficial to the East Texas Oil Fields.

Nobles said the $1 billion dollar project, which would be primarily funded by the Federal Government, would be the prototype for the first clean-burning fossil fuel power plant. It would produce major amounts of electricity throughout the state and country and serve as a research facility as well.

Nobles said the benefit to East Texas would be the production and use of carbon dioxide. “After the gas is captured it can be used to replace salt water in retrieving oil from old and existing wells which can extend the life of the East Texas Oil Field,” said Nobles.

Nobles said the issue is to pipe the gas to the wells for use. Old pipelines could be used for this purpose. There are many such pipelines in the Palestine area, she said.

Nobles said it is far too early to be projecting this type of use because it could be over a year before a site is selected by the Federal Government. “There are a lot of good sites in many states that are bidding for the Super Gen plant,” said Nobles. “But there are no timelines for completion of the project.”

Nobles said this is the best alternative, in her opinion, to nuclear energy. “Nuclear power is cleaner but there is just no place to dispose of the nuclear waste,” said Nobles.

Nobles said the Palestine site has all the qualifications needed to put it high in the running for the spot in Texas but that spot won’t be decided until after March by the governor’s office.

SuperGen is a proposed clean-burning coal-fire electricity generating plant to be funded by the federal government and a consortium of private companies. Several states, including Texas, are vying to host the plant which would create as many as 15,000 direct and spinoff jobs. Several Texas locations have been proposed, including a site in Anderson County.