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Mesaba Energy Project Unit I Site Information:

• Location:  Preferred site on Western Iron Range near Taconite, MN; alternative site on Eastern Iron Range near Hoyt Lakes, MN
• Site:  1260 acres of industrial land
• Main Sources of Cooling Water:  Canisteo and Hill Annex mine pits
• Railroad Service:  Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) and Canadian National

Technical Aspects of Mesaba Unit I:

• IGCC Plant with an initial capacity of 603MW (Net)
• Fuel-flexible design accommodates 100% Powder River Basin coal, eastern coal blend, or a coal-petcoke blend
• Commercial, multi-train application of ConocoPhillips E-Gas technology
• Expansion opportunities to meet need of new base load capacity
• Two E-Gas gasification trains with spare train to improve availability and reliability
• Over 1600 improvements to Wabash River IGCC identified in DOE study are incorporated into design
• Two heat recovery steam generators
• Two (50%) air separation units
• Groundbreaking Minnesota enabling legislation to remove barriers to IGCC market penetration

Mesaba Energy Project Unit I Timeline:

• Start of Construction:  First Quarter, 2008
• In-Service Date:  Fourth Quarter, 2011

Mesaba Energy Project Unit I Commercial Aspects:

• Sale of Electricity:  Long-term contract with Northern States Power/Xcel Energy (subject to approval by Public Utilities Commission)
• Coal Delivery:  Four to five trains per week
• By-Products:  Marketable slag (for the construction industry) and elemental sulfur (for fertilizer)