DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - A power plant described as a "game-changing" move toward clean energy in the United States is coming to Decatur. 

Archer Daniels Midland and 8 Rivers Capital LLC announced they have agreed in principle to place the Broadwing Clean Energy Complex at a location adjacent to ADM's Decatur processing complex. A press release said the facility, which will be one of the first zero emissions Allam-Fetvedt cycle power plants, will generate 280 megawatts of clean power in order to push toward decarbonizing the industrial, transport and electricity sectors. 

The facility would safely store captured carbon a mile and a half underground through ADM's carbon capture and storage system. 

The 8 Rivers company plans to make a final investment decision by 2022 and start operations by 2025. Warwick Capital Partners LLP will be a development financing partner through targeted investment vehicle Warwick Carbon Solutions. 

"NET Power and the Allam-Fetvedt Cycle represent a game-changing advance in the search for solutions to climate change," the release said. "The technology combusts gas with oxygen, as opposed to air, and uses supercritical carbon dioxide as a working fluid to drive a turbine instead of steam. This eliminates all air emissions, including traditional pollutants and CO2, and inherently produces pipeline-quality CO2 that can be sequestered, all while operating at competitive cost and efficiency to traditional gas power plants."

The complex would involve an investment of over a half-billion dollars in central Illinois and would build on an existing carbon storage facility in Decatur, which is funded by ADM and the U.S. Department of Energy. 

These projects would create over a thousand direct and indirect jobs with construction, leaders said, and about 24 jobs for facility operations. Leaders added the Allam-Fetvedt Cycle plan has the potential to displace more than 1 million tons of Co2 per year that is emitted from existing coal and gas plants, while at the same time emitting no air pollutants. 

The release said this accelerates the path to 100 percent clean power in Illinois and globally. 

“This 8 Rivers Energy deployment with a full-scale Allam-Fetvedt Cycle plant represents a paradigm shift for how the world generates power," said 8 Rivers' CEO Cam Hosie. "The technology makes clean energy affordable for every country, so the whole world can rapidly reduce its emissions. Today’s announcement jump-starts deploying hundreds of NET Power plants globally and accelerates the drive to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. It represents years of hard work from our world-class teams at 8 Rivers and NET Power, as well as our partners ADM and Warwick Capital Partners." 

“Across ADM’s value chain, from the crops we buy to the products we create, we’re finding new, innovative ways to sustainably feed the world,” said Veronica Braker, ADM’s senior vice president of global operations. “Last year, we embarked on Strive 35, an aggressive program to evolve ADM’s environmental footprint, including reducing our absolute greenhouse gas emissions. Today, we’re advancing a project that represents a potential leap forward in GHG reduction technology. We’re excited for the opportunity to integrate our Decatur operations – and particularly our world-class carbon capture and storage facility – with this groundbreaking new zero-emission power plant, and we look forward to exploring other ways that we can support this project.”

The announcement drew praise from several Republican lawmakers representing central Illinois, including State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) and State Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur). 

“This is huge. Decatur’s local business and civic leaders did a great job landing this clean energy production facility. This is the type of facility that brings desperately-needed, high paying jobs at a critical time for the community," said Rose. “Earlier this year I filed legislation aimed at growing even more jobs around proven carbon-capture technology, which I hope can springboard off of the momentum from Broadwing.”

“Any time we can bring more high-paying jobs to Decatur is a win for our community,” said Caulkins. “This power plant will be one of two pollution free power plants of its kind built in the United States. This new technology will highlight the unique position Illinois is in with carbon capture and lead to more opportunities in the future. This is another victory for Decatur, ADM and Richland Community College. I welcome Broadwing and the jobs it will bring to central Illinois.”