Important carbon seize tasks—at Cane Run 7, PPL Corp.’s 691-MW gas-fired unit in Louisville, Kentucky, and 4 Corners, a 1.5-GW coal-fired energy plant in New Mexico—have individually secured federal awards from the Division of Vitality’s (DOE’s) Workplace of Clear Vitality Demonstrations (OCED).
OCED has allotted $4.9 million to PPL Corp. subsidiary Kentucky Utilities Co. underneath its Carbon Seize Massive-Scale Pilot Tasks Program to begin Part 1 actions for a seize challenge at Cane Run Producing Station in Louisville, Kentucky. The pilot will use a solvent-agnostic superior heat-integrated expertise developed by the College of Kentucky (UK) to seize 95% of the CO2 from a portion of the unit’s flue gasoline.
Individually, OCED awarded Navajo Transitional Vitality Firm (NTEC) $6.5 million underneath the Carbon Seize Demonstration Tasks Program to kick off a front-end engineering design (FEED) research for an built-in carbon seize, transport and storage challenge on the 4 Corners Energy Plant. The FEED research will consider the usage of amine-based, post-combustion carbon seize expertise. The challenge is in search of to design a system able to capturing a “minimal of 10 million tons of CO₂ per yr,” reaching a carbon seize effectivity of greater than 95%.
Cane Run 7 Is OCED’s Second Carbon Seize Pilot
Cane Run is the second of the DOE’s choices to obtain federal funding to kick off a large-scale carbon seize pilot. In August, the DOE allotted $5 million to kick off Part 1 actions on the Wyoming Built-in Take a look at Middle, which is positioned seven miles north of Dry Fork Energy Station. Beneath that pilot challenge, industrial analysis agency TDA Analysis will collaborate with Schlumberger Know-how Corp. to deploy a carbon seize system at a Wyoming Built-in Take a look at Middle check bay that’s outfitted to ship as much as 23 MWe of flue gasoline.
The $4.9 million in first-tranche funding for the Cane Run 7 pilot is a part of a $72 million complete federal value share for Part 1 actions, which can span 18 to 21 months.
“Throughout Part 1 of the challenge, Kentucky Utilities Firm plans to finish a FEED research to find out the technical specs for incorporating carbon seize into the ability. The challenge plans to additionally begin workforce planning, challenge allowing, and offering enter into OCED’s Nationwide Environmental Coverage Act evaluation course of. Part 1 of the challenge may also embody an Setting, Security, and Well being evaluation, enterprise plans, group labor engagements, and group advantages planning,” OCED stated.
Cane Run 7, which is collectively owned by PPL subsidiaries Kentucky Utilities and Louisville Fuel and Electrical Firm, got here on-line in June 2015 as Kentucky’s first pure gasoline mixed cycle (NGCC) producing unit. The positioning was house to Louisville Fuel and Electrical Firm’s coal-fired producing plant from 1954 till it was retired in 2015.
“The aim of the challenge is to pilot and inform the secure and accountable industrial deployment of UK’s solvent-flexible course of, which may very well be scaled up to be used at different NGCC vegetation,” OCED stated. “The challenge plans to seize as much as 67,000 metric tons of CO₂ per yr … and associate with an off-taker who would purify the captured CO₂ for helpful use.”
The demonstration challenge shall be fastidiously watched, on condition that it represents a pioneering step in assessing the long run viability of utility-scale carbon seize expertise on pure gasoline items. “It’s anticipated to seize greater than 95% of the carbon emissions from as much as 20 MW of the plant’s 691 MW producing capability, or as much as 67,000 metric tons of CO₂ per yr,” PPL underscored.
The $100 million carbon seize challenge will leverage a heavyweight business collaboration. Together with the College of Kentucky, challenge companions embody EPRI, Kentucky State College, Visage Vitality, and American Welding & Fuel. “Vogt Energy Worldwide Inc., a Babcock Energy Inc. subsidiary, and Siemens Vitality, producers of the Cane Run 7 Producing Station, are contributing technical help as a part of the challenge workforce on integrating the brand new CO₂ seize system,” PPL stated. “Koch Modular Course of Methods and others will help the design, fabrication, and development of the carbon seize unit.”
“We’re proud to take the lead in evaluating and piloting carbon seize expertise on pure gasoline combined-cycle era, and we’re grateful for the DOE’s help,” stated PPL President and CEO Vincent Sorgi. “In the end, we consider dependable, dispatchable pure gasoline items shall be important within the years forward to make sure there’s enough provide to satisfy electrical energy demand 24/7. Additional, we consider pure gasoline is usually a dependable associate in accelerating the transition to renewables whereas preserving reliability and affordability.”
4 Corners Launches CCS FEED Research
The FEED research at 4 Corners, anticipated to be accomplished by 2025, will assess the feasibility of integrating CCS on the 1.5-GW coal-fired facility close to Fruitland, New Mexico. The research will analyze the challenge’s environmental, financial, and group impacts, with a concentrate on the technical specs required for CO₂ seize, transport, and storage.
If the research 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.
“NTEC is happy to be working with OCED on the FEED research to advance carbon seize and storage in the US,” stated Vern Lund, NTEC’s CEO. “This research is a vital subsequent step in figuring out whether or not carbon seize is possible at 4 Corners Energy Plant and may be commercially deployed at scale to cut back carbon emissions.”
NTEC has argued continued operation of a the large coal-fired energy plant carries vital financial worth for the Navajo Nation. “Every year, 4 Corners Energy Plant and the Navajo Mine contribute greater than 35% of the Navajo Nation’s complete income and make use of greater than 500 Navajo tribal members,” stated Lund.
In accordance with OCED, the award is a part of the DOE’s broader efforts to de-risk carbon seize demonstrations and stimulate follow-on personal sector investments in CCS applied sciences. “Coal-fired era accounts for greater than half of CO₂ emissions from the electrical energy sector whereas representing roughly 18% of the nation’s electrical energy era. Profitable demonstration of carbon seize expertise in coal-powered era may also help to drive decarbonization on this sector whereas supporting secure and inexpensive energy era and staff throughout a clear vitality transition,” it stated.
“CCS has the potential to drive 20% of the worldwide emissions reductions wanted by 2050. Broad deployment of this expertise will contribute to greenhouse gasoline discount targets, serving to the U.S. change into a net-zero economic system by 2050 and attain a 50% discount in economywide web greenhouse gasoline air pollution from 2005 ranges by 2030.”
—Sonal Patel is a POWER senior editor (@sonalcpatel, @POWERmagazine).
