A proposed $2.2 billion "clean coal" plant in West Texas has leapt a major regulatory hurdle, receiving approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for an air-quality permit.

Summit Power Group's project is to employ integrated gasification combined cycle technology, which is designed to capture 90 percent of carbon dioxide emissions and will be a "first-of-a-kind" plant in Texas, Summit said Wednesday in announcing the permit, granted Tuesday.

"This is a milestone moment for America's energy economy and this project," said Summit Chairman Donald Hodel, who was energy secretary during the Reagan administration.

"We are delighted to be building this project in Texas, where federal, state and local elected officials have all worked effectively toward the same objective, namely to bring near-zero-emissions coal technology to the world marketplace," Hodel said.

The plant is to be built on 600 acres in Penwell, 15 miles southwest of Odessa. Construction is to begin in the second half of 2011 and operations should start in late 2014, said Laura Miller, Texas projects director for Summit and the former Dallas mayor.

The project "will be an economic boon to West Texas, creating more than 1,500 jobs at the peak of construction, 150 high-wage permanent jobs when the plant is operational, and 200 additional jobs in periods of major maintenance," Summit said.

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