NRG Energy Joins United States Climate Action Partnership
Princeton, NJ — NRG Energy, Inc. has joined the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), an alliance of major businesses and leading climate and environmental groups calling for federal legislation requiring significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.
"The time is now for decisive action to address climate change and decisive action requires clear and unequivocal leadership," said David Crane, President and CEO, NRG Energy. "We are pleased to join USCAP, which we believe has the potential to be an effective vehicle for leadership on this fundamental issue. We strongly endorse the USCAP principles and believe they will lead to a climate policy approach that is broad in its scope, fair in its application and effective in its impact."
Building Power Generating Facilities for a Cleaner Energy Future
NRG last June announced a comprehensive repowering plan, known as Repowering NRG, to develop new power generation facilities which would significantly reduce the carbon intensity of NRG's generation fleet. Repowering NRG calls for investing approximately $16 billion on more than 10,000 megawatts of new, cleaner power plants — enough to supply power to eight million homes.
NRG's plans include building two new nuclear units at its South Texas Project location totaling approximately 2,700 megawatts — enough to power more than 2.1 million homes. The Company expects to be one of the first companies to file for an operating license with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission later this year. Additionally, NRG is in the process of developing an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plant with carbon capture and sequestration in western New York that will have the ability to capture up to 65% of carbon dioxide today, with the potential for up to 90% in the future.
"We continue to invest in highly efficient, low-carbon technologies such as nuclear energy and coal gasification that will limit carbon dioxide and other air emissions. If the global economy is to make significant progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it will be through the rapid commercial deployment of advanced nuclear generation facilities and, particularly, IGCC plants with carbon sequestration," added Crane.
Other projects in the works include plans to develop new wind generation in California and Texas through NRG's Padoma Wind Power subsidiary.
About NRG
A Fortune 500 company, NRG Energy, Inc. owns and operates a diverse portfolio of power-generating facilities, primarily in Texas and the Northeast, South Central and West regions of the United States. Its operations include baseload, intermediate, peaking, and cogeneration and thermal energy production facilities. NRG also has ownership interests in generating facilities in Australia, Germany and Brazil.
About USCAP
USCAP brings together key sectors of the economy — from energy, transportation, agriculture and technology to telecommunications, infrastructure and financial services — with environmental and conservation leaders. This diverse group of business and environmental organizations stands together in calling for the federal government to take immediate action to enact mandatory legislation to achieve significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.
SOURCE: NRG Energy, Inc.