1. A control system for an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power generation plant, the system comprising: a sensor suite coupled to sense a plurality of signals indicative of plant parameters; an estimator coupled to receive at least some of the plant parameters sensed by the sensor suite and estimate at least a further plant parameter; a dynamic model coupled to the estimator and/or sensor suite to receive sensed and/or estimated plant parameters and generate a prediction of plant performance over a prediction time horizon; a controller coupled to the dynamic model to process the prediction of plant performance and determine a control strategy for the IGCC plant over a control time horizon subject to one or more constraints of the plant, wherein the control strategy comprises a control functionality to meet a tracking objective and further comprises a control functionality to meet an optimization objective, wherein the control strategy is configured to prioritize the tracking objective over the optimization objective based on a coordinate transformation; and a plurality of plant control knobs to be set in accordance with the determined control strategy to generate a sequence of coordinated multivariable control inputs configured to meet the tracking objective, and meet the optimization objective subject to the prioritization resulting from the linear transformation.