Carbon Capture Projects at Gas-Fired Cane Run 7, Coal-Fired Four Corners Get Federal Awards
Significant carbon capture projects—at Cane Run 7, PPL Corp.’s 691-MW gas-fired unit in Louisville, Kentucky, and Four Corners, a 1.5-GW coal-fired power plant in New Mexico—have separately secured federal awards from the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED).
OCED has allocated $4.9 million to PPL Corp. subsidiary Kentucky Utilities Co. under its Carbon Capture Large-Scale Pilot Projects Program to commence Phase 1 activities for a capture project at Cane Run Generating Station in Louisville, Kentucky. The pilot will use a solvent-agnostic advanced heat-integrated technology developed by the University of Kentucky (UK) to capture 95% of the CO2 from a portion of the unit’s flue gas.
Separately, OCED awarded Navajo Transitional Energy Company (NTEC) $6.5 million under the Carbon Capture Demonstration Projects Program to kick off a front-end engineering design (FEED) study for an integrated carbon capture, transport and storage project at the Four Corners Power Plant. The FEED study will evaluate the use of amine-based, post-combustion carbon capture technology. The project is seeking to design a system capable of capturing a “minimum of 10 million tons of CO₂ per year,” achieving a carbon capture efficiency of more than 95%.
Cane Run 7 Is OCED’s Second Carbon Capture Pilot
Cane Run is the second of the DOE’s selections to receive federal funding to kick off a large-scale carbon capture pilot. In August, the DOE allocated $5 million to kick off Phase 1 activities at the Wyoming Integrated Test Center, which is located seven miles north of Dry Fork Power Station. Under that pilot project, industrial research firm TDA Research will collaborate with Schlumberger Technology Corp. to deploy a carbon capture system at a Wyoming Integrated Test Center test bay that is equipped to deliver up to 23 MWe of flue gas.
The $4.9 million in first-tranche funding for the Cane Run 7 pilot is part of a $72 million total federal cost share for Phase 1 activities, which will span 18 to 21 months.
“During Phase 1 of the project, Kentucky Utilities Company plans to complete a FEED study to determine the technical specifications for incorporating carbon capture into the facility. The project plans to also start workforce planning, project permitting, and providing input into OCED’s National Environmental Policy Act review process. Phase 1 of the project will also include an Environment, Safety, and Health assessment, business plans, community labor engagements, and community benefits planning,” OCED said.
Cane Run 7, which is jointly owned by PPL subsidiaries Kentucky Utilities and Louisville Gas and Electric Company, came online in June 2015 as Kentucky’s first natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) generating unit. The site was home to Louisville Gas and Electric Company’s coal-fired generating plant from 1954 until it was retired in 2015.
“The goal of the project is to pilot and inform the safe and responsible commercial deployment of UK’s solvent-flexible process, which could be scaled up for use at other NGCC plants,” OCED said. “The project plans to capture up to 67,000 metric tons of CO₂ per year … and partner with an off-taker who would purify the captured CO₂ for beneficial use.”
The demonstration project will be carefully watched, given that it represents a pioneering step in assessing the future viability of utility-scale carbon capture technology on natural gas units. “It’s expected to capture more than 95% of the carbon emissions from up to 20 MW of the plant’s 691 MW generating capacity, or up to 67,000 metric tons of CO₂ per year,” PPL underscored.
The $100 million carbon capture project will leverage a heavyweight industry collaboration. Along with the University of Kentucky, project partners include EPRI, Kentucky State University, Visage Energy, and American Welding & Gas. “Vogt Power International Inc., a Babcock Power Inc. subsidiary, and Siemens Energy, manufacturers of the Cane Run 7 Generating Station, are contributing technical support as part of the project team on integrating the new CO₂ capture system,” PPL said. “Koch Modular Process Systems and others will support the design, fabrication, and construction of the carbon capture unit.”
“We are proud to take the lead in evaluating and piloting carbon capture technology on natural gas combined-cycle generation, and we’re grateful for the DOE’s support,” said PPL President and CEO Vincent Sorgi. “Ultimately, we believe reliable, dispatchable natural gas units will be essential in the years ahead to ensure there’s sufficient supply to meet electricity demand 24/7. Further, we believe natural gas can be a reliable partner in accelerating the transition to renewables while preserving reliability and affordability.”
Four Corners Launches CCS FEED Study
The FEED study at Four Corners, expected to be completed by 2025, will assess the feasibility of integrating CCS at the 1.5-GW coal-fired facility near Fruitland, New Mexico. The study will analyze the project’s environmental, economic, and community impacts, with a focus on the technical specifications required for CO₂ capture, transport, and storage.
If the study finds CCS to be viable, NTEC plans to use amine-based, post-combustion carbon capture technology to extend the life of the Four Corners plant beyond its current 2031 timeline.
“NTEC is pleased to be working with OCED on the FEED study to advance carbon capture and storage in the United States,” said Vern Lund, NTEC’s CEO. “This study is an important next step in determining whether carbon capture is feasible at Four Corners Power Plant and can be commercially deployed at scale to reduce carbon emissions.”
NTEC has argued continued operation of a the massive coal-fired power plant carries significant economic value for the Navajo Nation. “Each year, Four Corners Power Plant and the Navajo Mine contribute more than 35% of the Navajo Nation’s total revenue and employ more than 500 Navajo tribal members,” said Lund.
According to OCED, the award is part of the DOE’s broader efforts to de-risk carbon capture demonstrations and stimulate follow-on private sector investments in CCS technologies. “Coal-fired generation accounts for more than half of CO₂ emissions from the electric power sector while representing approximately 18% of the nation’s electricity generation. Successful demonstration of carbon capture technology in coal-powered generation can help to drive decarbonization in this sector while supporting stable and affordable power generation and workers during a clean energy transition,” it said.
“CCS has the potential to drive 20% of the global emissions reductions needed by 2050. Broad deployment of this technology will contribute to greenhouse gas reduction goals, helping the U.S. become a net-zero economy by 2050 and reach a 50% reduction in economywide net greenhouse gas pollution from 2005 levels by 2030.”
—Sonal Patel is a POWER senior editor (@sonalcpatel, @POWERmagazine).