Archer Daniels Midland Decatur Power Plant

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Archer Daniels Midland Decatur Power Plant is an operating power station of at least 335-megawatts (MW) in Decatur, Macon, Illinois, United States.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Archer Daniels Midland Decatur Power Plant Decatur, Macon, Illinois, United States 39.870008, -88.890964 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

  • Unit 2, Unit 3, Unit 4, Unit 5, Unit 6, Unit 7, Unit 8: 39.870008, -88.890964

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology Start year
Unit 2 operating coal: bituminous 31 subcritical 1987
Unit 3 operating coal: bituminous 31 subcritical 1987
Unit 4 operating coal: bituminous 31 subcritical 1987
Unit 5 operating coal: bituminous 31 subcritical 1987
Unit 6 operating coal: bituminous 31 subcritical 1994
Unit 7 operating coal: bituminous 75 subcritical 1997
Unit 8 operating coal: bituminous 105 subcritical 2005

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name Owner Parent
Unit 2 Archer-Daniels-Midland Co [100%] Archer-Daniels-Midland Co [100.0%]
Unit 3 Archer-Daniels-Midland Co [100%] Archer-Daniels-Midland Co [100.0%]
Unit 4 Archer-Daniels-Midland Co [100%] Archer-Daniels-Midland Co [100.0%]
Unit 5 Archer-Daniels-Midland Co [100%] Archer-Daniels-Midland Co [100.0%]
Unit 6 Archer-Daniels-Midland Co [100%] Archer-Daniels-Midland Co [100.0%]
Unit 7 Archer-Daniels-Midland Co [100%] Archer-Daniels-Midland Co [100.0%]
Unit 8 Archer-Daniels-Midland Co [100%] Archer-Daniels-Midland Co [100.0%]

Project-level captive use details

  • Captive industry: Agriculture


Carbon Capture and Storage project

The plant was the site of a carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration project. The project aimed to drill down to a 600-million-year-old layer of sandstone, where developers hoped to bury about 1 million metric tons of CO2. The project was estimated to cost US$84 million, with $66.7 million contributed by the Department of Energy. The project made the most progress of any other federally-sponsored coal sequestration project in the U.S. By 2009, the drillers had dug through 5,300 feet and had 2,700 feet remaining before they reached the sandstone layer.[1]

On June 30, 2013, major construction of CO2 compression, dehydration, and transport facilities was completed. On April 15, 2014, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the Underground Injection Control (UIC) Class VI draft permit for the Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Illinois ICCS project. The final Class VI well permit was issued on September 26, 2014. On June 23, 2014, the installation of the major equipment for the substation was completed and the substation was energized on November 24, 2014. Work commenced on the Class VI injection well on January 11, 2015.[2]

The ADM project received the U.S. EPA’s UIC Class VI injection well permit effective April 7, 2017, and started commercial operations accordingly. The project can achieve a total CO2 injection capacity of approximately 1 Mtpa.[2] The captured CO2 is transported to a nearby injection well for dedicated geological storage.[3]

According to reporting from September 2024, the US EPA had issued a violation notice to ADM over alleged breaches of its injection well permit and the Safe Drinking Water Act. In its notice to the company, the EPA stated that ADM did not monitor the well in line with permit conditions, had allowed the injection of CO2 into “unauthorized zones”, and failed to follow the provisions of the emergency response and remediation plan. ADM confirmed that it had detected corrosion in part of one of its two monitoring wells.[4][5][6]

In October 2024, ADM suspended injection of carbon dioxide at the storage site after discovering a possible underground leak.[7] Reporting from November 2024 indicated that ADM had notified the EPA of two dozen additional underground wells that could potentially pollute groundwater with injected carbon dioxide. The EPA reportedly said that the latest results do not suggest “any immediate threat” to drinking water supplies. A coalition of 150 civil society groups had called on the EPA to cease approving new injection wells and halt current projects.[8]

Emissions Data

  • 2006 CO2 Emissions: 1,142,168 tons
  • 2006 SO2 Emissions:
  • 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
  • 2006 NOx Emissions:
  • 2005 Mercury Emissions:

Articles and Resources

References

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.