Billions in Federal Funding Earmarked for Energy Plant CCS Initiatives: Here is a Snapshot

The Division of Power (DOE) unveiled plans on Sept. 27 to inject $1.3 billion into its portfolio of federally funded carbon seize demonstration and large-scale pilot packages by the top of the 12 months—together with as much as $400 million to assist one commercial-scale coal energy plant carbon seize and storage (CCS) demonstration.

The Workplace of Clear Power Demonstrations (OCED) on Friday stated it can problem a Discover of Funding Alternative (NOFO) titled “Level-Supply Carbon Seize Massive-Scale Pilots, Business Demonstrations, & Networked Demonstration Commercialization” within the final quarter of 2024. Slated to cowl 4 matter areas, the funding will search to reveal a commercial-scale mission—together with seize, transport, and storage of carbon dioxide (CO₂) “from not less than one unit operations” of a brand new or present home coal facility. The mission will “function a possible ‘anchor tenant’ for future close by CCS developments and supply “obligatory price and efficiency information to tell future funding choices in coal purposes,” the NOFO says.

The funding may even assist as much as two initiatives with a mixed $350 million in federal share at non-power industrial amenities and as much as 4 initiatives (with as much as $450 million) to check “novel applied sciences built-in at a large-scale and beneath actual exhaust circumstances in each the facility and industrial sector.” These initiatives will “de-risk transformational carbon seize approaches with improved efficiency and diminished seize price,” it stated. Lastly, the funding will designate as much as 4 initiatives (with as much as $30 million) to assist their built-in, iterative planning and enterprise improvement of localized carbon administration networks. A key side of that effort will likely be to leverage shared transport and storage amongst a number of related entities that conform to work collectively.

OCED’s deliberate $1.3 billion in new CCS funding is a part of the DOE’s mandate beneath the 2021-enacted Infrastructure Funding and Jobs Act (IIJA). Spurred by the legislation, OCED’s carbon administration portfolio consists of the $2.537 billion Carbon Seize Demonstrations program and the $937 million Carbon Seize Massive-Scale Pilots program. The Carbon Seize Demonstrations program primarily funds initiatives that contribute to the event of six full-scale built-in demonstrations of carbon seize and storage, as directed beneath the Power Coverage Act of 2005. The Carbon Seize Massive-Scale Pilots program, in the meantime, funds initiatives that additional the event of transformational carbon seize applied sciences “not but superior to the purpose of being examined beneath actual operational circumstances at industrial scale,” as directed by the statute.

Thus far, OCED’s energy plant–associated portfolio consists of three commercial-scale demonstrations, two large-scale pilots, and 5 initiatives that can conduct built-in front-end engineering and design (FEED) research. Following is a snapshot of what these initiatives entail.

Carbon Seize Demonstrations

Following its launch of a funding alternative in February 2023, the DOE in December 2023 picked three eligible carbon seize commercial-scale demonstrations following a advantage evaluation.

Baytown Carbon Seize and Storage Mission in Texas. Calpine Texas CCUS Holdings obtained $270 million for Part 1 of the mission on July 23. The Baytown, Texas, mission will search to seize as much as 2 million metric tons of CO₂ yearly from the 810-MW baseload NGCC in Baytown, Texas, utilizing Shell’s CANSOLV expertise. The mission, composed of three combustion generators with three warmth restoration steam mills, is about to reveal the primary full-scale implementation of CCS expertise at a pure fuel mixed cycle energy plant within the U.S. The mission plans to sequester the CO₂ in saline storage websites on the Gulf Coast. The year-long first section will contain finishing an built-in FEED, workforce planning, mission allowing, and environmental evaluations.

Sutter Decarbonization Mission in California. Led by Sutter CCUS, an oblique Calpine subsidiary, the mission proposed for Yuba Metropolis, California, obtained $8.6 million for Part 1 of the mission on Aug. 7. Sutter will seize as much as 1.75 million metric tons of CO₂ every year, utilizing ION Clear Power solvent, from the 550-MW Sutter Power Heart (SEC), transport it and sequester it completely underground in saline geologic formations. The gas-fired mission consists of two combustion turbine mills, two warmth restoration steam mills with duct burners, and a single condensing steam turbine generator. Like Baytown, Sutter’s first section entails an built-in FEED examine and different attributes. Distinctive to this mission is the world’s first deployment of an air-cooling system at a carbon seize facility, which can reduce freshwater use—a necessary characteristic for the arid western U.S.

Mission Tundra in North Dakota. The mission developed by the Dakota Carbon Heart East Mission and led by Minnkota Energy Cooperative and TC Power will likely be positioned subsequent to the 250-MW Milton R. Younger Station close to Heart, a two-unit, lignite coal-based energy plant. On Sept. 25, the mission obtained practically $4.2 million in federal funding (of the overall federal price share of as much as $350 million) for Part 1 actions. The mission plans to make use of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ KS-21 solvent to seize an annual common of 4 million metric tons of CO₂. The captured CO₂ will likely be sequestered in saline geologic formations surrounding the facility plant, which already has an accredited  Class VI nicely allow.

Carbon Seize Demonstration Built-in FEED Awards

Individually, in September 2022, the DOE introduced $189 million in funding for built-in FEED research to assist the event of integrated carbon seize, transport, and storage initiatives. On Might 5, 2023, the company introduced mission picks that may proceed to award negotiations.

Energy initiatives awarded to this point embrace:

Edwardsport Built-in Gasification Mixed Cycle (IGCC) Carbon Seize Mission. The mission in Knox County, Indiana, led by Duke Power Indiana in September 2023, received $8.2 million in federal funding for a FEED examine as half of a bigger $17.2 million mission. The examine will consider the feasibility of capturing as much as 3.6 million metric tons of CO₂ per 12 months from flue gases of the Edwardsport IGCC energy plant’s warmth restoration steam mills (HRSGs) utilizing Honeywell’s Superior Solvent Carbon Seize course of, which has a expertise readiness degree (TRL) of seven. The captured CO₂ will likely be saved onsite within the plant’s “ample” pore area, which may maintain as much as 400 million metric tons of CO₂

Polk Energy Station Built-in CO₂ Seize Mission. The mission at Polk Energy Station in Mulberry, Florida, led by Tampa Electrical Firm (TECO), obtained $4.7 million in federal funding for a FEED examine in December 2023 as half of a bigger $9.4 million mission. The examine will deal with designing and figuring out the price of retrofitting ION Clear Power’s post-combustion carbon seize expertise to the 1,190-MW four-unit pure fuel mixed cycle (NGCC) unit on the Polk Energy Station, capturing as much as 3 million metric tons of CO₂ per 12 months, or 95% of the plant’s emissions. “As a part of this mission, the CCS system will likely be designed to keep up the required flexibility of a dispatch-based producing asset, which pushes the boundaries of scalability, maximizes power effectivity, and makes use of a transformational solvent, whereas sustaining a strong and versatile system,” OCED famous.  The captured CO₂ will likely be transported through pipeline and saved in safe geologic formations.

Lake Charles Energy Station Built-in CO₂ Seize Mission. The total-scale built-in carbon mission at Lake Charles Energy Station in Westlake, Louisiana, obtained $8.6 million in federal funding for a FEED examine in January 2024 as half of a bigger $17.3 million mission. Led by Entergy Companies, the examine will deal with retrofitting Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ KS-21 solvent-based post-combustion carbon seize expertise to the pure fuel mixed cycle (NGCC) unit on the 994-MW plant, capturing as much as 2.5 million metric tons of CO₂ per 12 months, or 95% of the plant’s emissions. Entergy Companies, LLC has partnered with Talos Power to develop a sequestration website 40 miles from the plant, with a pipeline to move the captured CO₂ for safe storage

Dry Fork Station Built-in CO₂ Seize Mission. The mission at Dry Fork Station in Gillette, Wyoming, led by Membrane Know-how and Analysis (MTR) Carbon Seize, obtained $4.6 million in federal funding for a FEED examine in April 2024 as half of a bigger $9.3 million mission. The mission is led by MTR, however it can serve Basin Electrical Energy Coop’s Dry Fork Station. The DOE is on the identical time backing a large-scale pilot on the Wyoming Built-in Take a look at Heart to seize CO₂ from flue fuel produced at Dry Fork Station (see beneath).

The mission is concentrated on designing a system utilizing MTR’s second-generation Polaris, and the FEED will analyze the necessities for designing a system to seize, compress, and retailer 3 million metric tons of CO₂ per 12 months onsite, attaining a minimal carbon seize fee of 90%. The examine will deal with carbon seize, however it can additionally assess the potential integration of a CO₂ pipeline and geologic storage utilizing CarbonSAFE information.

4 Corners Energy Plant Built-in CO₂ Seize and Storage Mission. The mission on the coal-fired 1.5-GW 4 Corners Energy Plant, led by Navajo Transitional Power Firm (NTEC), obtained $6.6 million in federal funding for a FEED examine in September 2024 as half of a bigger $13.1 million mission. The examine will deal with designing an amine-based, post-combustion carbon seize system able to capturing a minimal of 10 million metric tons of CO₂ per 12 months—over 95% of the plant’s emissions. The captured CO₂ will likely be transported and saved securely in geologic formations, with plans for pipeline improvement via a separate DOE CarbonSAFE initiative. Along with engineering, the mission will emphasize workforce improvement and group engagement via its Group Advantages Plan, partnering with San Juan Faculty and Navajo Technical College to offer job coaching and prioritize native hiring inside the Navajo Nation. If the examine finds CCS to be viable, NTEC plans to make use of amine-based, post-combustion carbon seize expertise to increase the lifetime of the 4 Corners plant past its present 2031 timeline.

[Award pending] Built-in Seize, Transport, and Geological Storage of CO₂ at Dallman 4. The mission at Metropolis Water, Mild and Energy’s Dallman 4 coal-fired energy plant in Springfield, Illinois, led by the College of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will obtain federal funding to develop an end-to-end resolution for capturing, transporting, and storing 2 million metric tons of CO₂ per 12 months. The mission will use a Linde-BASF solvent-based carbon seize system to scale back emissions from the plant, with the captured CO₂ being transported to the Illinois Storage Hall for safe geologic storage.

Carbon Seize Massive-Scale Pilots

Following its February 2023 funding announcement, the OCED on Feb. 2, 2024,  introduced  4 initiatives chosen for award negotiations beneath its Carbon Seize Massive-Scale Pilot Initiatives Program following a advantage evaluation course of described in its funding alternative announcement. Awards will likely be made on an ongoing foundation beginning in August 2024.

Initiatives associated to energy era embrace:

Dry Fork Carbon Seize Pilot in Wyoming. TDA Analysis and Schlumberger Know-how Corp. are slated to obtain as much as $49 million in OCED funding to pilot TDA Analysis’s sorbent-based expertise. The mission obtained $5 million beneath this system in August 2024 to kick off Part 1. The Dry Fork pilot mission, positioned on the Wyoming Built-in Take a look at Heart close to Basin Electrical’s 405-MW Dry Fork Energy Station, will seize over 90% of CO₂ emissions from coal flue exhaust at excessive purity ranges (+95%). The system goals to seize as much as 158,000 metric tons of CO₂ per 12 months. Part 1 actions, which can span 18 to 22 months, embrace a front-end engineering design (FEED) examine, workforce planning, mission allowing, and environmental evaluations. The captured CO₂ will likely be evaluated for sequestration choices, together with via Wyoming CarbonSAFE.

Cane Run 7 Carbon Seize Mission in Kentucky. PPL Corp.’s Cane Run Producing Station in Louisville, Kentucky, in September 2024, obtained $4.9 million from a complete OCED award of as much as $72 million to kick off Part 1 actions. The mission goals to seize 95% of CO₂ emissions from a portion of the fuel energy plant’s flue fuel utilizing superior heat-integrated expertise developed by the College of Kentucky, concentrating on 67,000 metric tons of CO₂ per 12 months. Part 1 actions, which can span 18 to 21 months, embrace a front-end engineering design (FEED) examine, workforce planning, mission allowing, and environmental evaluations. The mission, a key step towards assessing carbon seize viability on pure fuel models, entails collaboration with EPRI, Siemens Power, and Koch Modular Course of Programs.

Know-how, Business Readiness a Key Concern

In keeping with the DOE, the federal funding is important to spice up the expertise readiness degree (TRL) of CCS’s three distinct arms: carbon seize, transport, and storage. CCS is already established it notes. Thus far, 26 commercial-scale initiatives in operation globally and an estimated 45 CCS amenities in operation in improvement within the U.S. right now. In North America, nevertheless, solely two power-related initiatives have demonstrated the complete scope of CCS: the coal-fired PetraNova W.A. Parish Mission in Texas and the SaskPower Boundary Dam mission in Saskatchewan.

For now, many carbon seize approaches haven’t been examined on flue gases or at massive scale. “Most non-solvent carbon seize approaches (e.g., membrane-based, sorbent-based, hybrid, molten salt, cryo-based) are at TRL 4-6 right now no matter flue stream. Though nascent, these non-solvent approaches might have excessive potential for efficiency enhancements long-term,” it says.

In the meantime, whereas the TRL of carbon transport by pipeline is mature—greater than 5,500 miles of CO₂ pipeline has been established the U.S. right now—analysis is required to “perceive how CO₂ composition variations can have an effect on pipelines,” it says. Carbon storage is  technically possible and mature right now in some locations, however every website poses “distinctive uncertainties and dangers that require a technical subsurface analysis to outline and make sure the adequacy of the advanced geology for the proposed mission website(s),” it notes. “A lot of this work is supported right now by the prevailing and energetic DOE CarbonSAFE program, managed by the Workplace of Fossil Power and Carbon Administration (FECM).”

The industrial adoption readiness degree (ARL)—a DOE-developed measure that assesses how nicely a expertise has been de-risked alongside its ecosystem economics—additionally broadly varies throughout elements of CCS deployment. Some applied sciences, notably in carbon seize, might face increased prices that aren’t absolutely mitigated by incentives just like the 45Q tax credit score, whereas others encounter efficiency uncertainties because of restricted operational information. Moreover, the readiness of carbon transport and storage infrastructure, together with regulatory, monetary, and workforce challenges, can considerably have an effect on the tempo and scale of CCS adoption throughout totally different sectors, the DOE explains.

The NOFO unveiled on Friday will search to broadly assist the design, group engagement, development, and operation of point-source carbon seize amenities and associated infrastructure. It should deal with three key areas: Subject Space 1 will fund commercial-scale carbon seize demonstrations at one coal-fired energy plant and one industrial facility, aiming to offer long-term operational information. Candidates “should have not less than carried out a pre-FEED examine on the seize system,” the DOE notes. “Candidates will likely be anticipated to be prepared for the detailed design section if a FEED examine already exists or is nearing completion. Services are anticipated to leverage seize applied sciences examined on related flue fuel, demonstrating not less than a 90% seize effectivity for not less than 1,000 hours (i.e., TRL 7 or above).”

Subject Space 2 will assist large-scale pilot initiatives that check transformational carbon seize applied sciences in energy era or business, enhancing effectivity and lowering prices. Subject Space 3 will facilitate monetary funding choices for carbon administration networks, encouraging shared transport and storage infrastructure improvement.

In the end, the DOE hopes this system will drive preliminary market adoption whereas enhancing the viability of CCS.  “DOE estimates that reaching our nation’s local weather targets would require capturing and storing 400 million to 1.8 billion tons of CO₂ yearly by 2050,” it famous. “Business demonstration of superior carbon seize applied sciences, built-in with dependable transportation and storage infrastructure, is important for the widespread deployment of those carbon seize applied sciences.”

OCED on Friday stated it anticipates that the funding solicitation will likely be launched in late 2024. “Potential candidates might want to register for the informational webinar on October 21, 2024. OCED can be internet hosting an in-person Trade Day on November 19, 2024, within the Washington, D.C. metro space to facilitate partnerships amongst eligible applicant groups,” it stated.

—Sonal Patel is a POWER senior editor (@sonalcpatel, @POWERmagazine).