MississippiPower Co. has started syngas production at , reaching asignificant milestone for a project that has been plagued with constructiondelays and ballooning costs.

The SouthernCo. subsidiary said July 15 that the successful syngas productiondemonstrates the viability of the transport integrated gasification, or TRIG, technology,which the company jointly developed with KBR and the U.S. Department of Energy.

"Producing syngas from Mississippi's own abundantnatural resource — lignite — should be encouraging to our customers,communities and energy companies around the world. This proves that Kemper'stechnology can provide a way forward for coal and puts us a step closer to fullplant operation," Mississippi Power President and CEO Anthony Wilson said.

The company's next focus is starting up and integratingvarious systems to use the syngas to produce electricity at the plant,according to a news release.

Based on the company's most recent , the integratedgasification combined-cycle generation project in Kemper County, Miss., isexpected to go online in the third quarter. An is underway over PlantRatcliffe's expected in-service date and estimated project costs.