U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu has announced that clean coal technology projects by Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Hydrogen Energy International LLC have been selected for up to $408M in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
new facility in California - will incorporate advanced technologies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Secretary Chu said that the announcement represents a major step forward in the fight to reduce CO2 emissions from coal-based power plants. "These new technologies will not only help fight climate change, they will also create new jobs and position the United States as a leader in carbon capture and storage technologies for many years, ” he said.
The selection of the two projects is part of the third round of the Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI). The Department of Energy will provide up to $408M in federal funds - $100M to Basin Electric Power Cooperative and $308M to Hydrogen Energy International LLC to support the innovative demonstrations.
The CCPI is a cost-shared collaboration between the federal government and private industry to increase investment in low-emission coal technology by demonstrating advanced coal-based, power generation technologies.
The goal of CCPI is to accelerate the readiness of advanced coal technologies for commercial deployment, ensuring that the United States has clean, reliable, and affordable electricity and power.
The selected proposals will employ different technological concepts to achieve a goal of at least 90% CO2 capture efficiency. Hydrogen Energy, a joint venture owned by BP Plc's alternative energy unit and Rio Tinto, will use the funding to build an integrated gasification power plant in California's Kern County that will convert coal and petroleum coke into hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
The hydrogen will be used to fuel the plant, while the carbon dioxide will be transferred via pipeline to nearby oil reservoirs for storage. Once completed, the project will capture more than 2 mt of carbon a year.
Basin Electric Power will use the government money to help deploy carbon capture and sequestration technology at the company's existing Antelope Valley Station near Beulah, North Dakota.
