* Says to install two scrubbers at Monroe power plant * Says new scrubbers to cut sulfur dioxide emissions

* To build selective catalytic reduction system in 2011

* SCR project expected to create 400 jobs

DTE Energy Co said it will start a $600 million environmental construction project in the first quarter of 2010 at its Monroe, Michigan power plant, creating 900 jobs. The diversified energy company will install two additional flue gas desulfurization systems, also known as scrubbers, to cut sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions by about 97 percent. In November, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed new air quality regulations for sulfur dioxide emissions, which come mostly from power plants and industrial facilities, especially those that burn coal. [ID:nN1739666]

The Monroe plant, which consists of four individual generating units, began operation of two SO2 scrubbers earlier this year.

When all four scrubbers are operational, they will nearly eliminate sulfur dioxide emissions from the plant, the company said.

The company plans to start construction on a fourth selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system, which reduces nitrogen oxide emissions by about 90 percent, in 2011.

The project is estimated to cost $330 million and create another 400 construction jobs.

Shares of DTE Energy were largely flat at $42.62 Tuesday afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Thyagaraju Adinarayan in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Pallivathuckal)

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