Financial status of the Great Plains coal gasification project

Technical Report · Thu Feb 21 04:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:5898567

Great Plains Gasification Associates and the Department of Energy (DOE) signed a loan guarantee agreement in January 1982 for up to $2.02 billion of the estimated $2.76 billion needed to construct a plant producing synthetic gas from coal. Faced with deteriorating financial projections in the wake of declining energy prices, Great Plains applied to the US Synthetic Fuels Corporation (SFC) for additional project assistance. In April 1984 SFC tentatively agreed to provide Great Plains up to $790 million in price guarantee assistance. In return, the Great Plains partners would contribute more equity and Great Plains would repay the DOE-guaranteed loan faster and share profits with SFC. According to GAO's assessment of SFC's proposed assistance, a lower amount of assistance could achieve the same results if Great Plains' partners could fully use certain tax credits and if energy prices and other assumptions remained the same as those SFC used in April 1984. Since April 1984, however, several changes have occurred, such as a continued decline in energy prices. An August 1984 SFC analysis indicated that the decline in energy price offset the effect of the increase tax credits. Other changes have also occurred, but SFC analyses subsequent to August 1984 showing the impact of these changes were not available to GAO. If all changes since April 1984 were incorporated into GAO's analyses, the results could be different.

• Research Organization: General Accounting Office, Washington, DC (USA). Resources, Community and Economic Development Div.
• OSTI ID: 5898567
• Report Number(s): GAO/RCED-85-70; ON: TI85901453
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010404 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Gasification
015000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Economic
Industrial
& Business Aspects
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290500 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Research
Development
Demonstration
& Commercialization
295000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Hydrogen & Synthetic Fuels
COAL GASIFICATION PLANTS
CONSTRUCTION
ENERGY SOURCES
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
FINANCIAL INCENTIVES
FINANCING
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
INDUSTRY
LOAN GUARANTEES
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
PETROLEUM
PRICES
SYNTHETIC FUELS CORPORATION
SYNTHETIC FUELS INDUSTRY
TAX CREDITS
US DOE
US ORGANIZATIONS