Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the selection of two projects to receive a total of approximately $99 million in federal funding. The projects will advance to Phase III (Construction/Operation) of funding opportunity announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0001788, Fossil Fuel Large-Scale Pilots.

The FOA was released with three phases, comprised of competitive selections made between phases:

• Phase I (Feasibility) projects support efforts to secure team commitments; update the preliminary cost estimate and schedule for design, construction and operation; and complete an environmental information volume.
• Phase II (Design) projects complete a front-end engineering design study, complete the National Environmental Policy Act process, and secure construction/operation cost-share funding.
• Phase III (Construction/Operation) includes construction and operation of large-scale pilot facilities.

The two Phase III projects will primarily be utilized for data collection and to gain knowledge from two small-scale (i.e., 10MWe) demonstrations that can be applied to other power and industrial CO2 emitting facilities, including waste biomass, natural gas, and others. The carbon capture technologies will be demonstrated and evaluated using an exhaust slipstream from the full-scale power plant. The following two projects have successfully completed Phase I and Phase II and have been selected to move on to Phase III:

Large Pilot Testing of Linde/BASF Advanced Post-Combustion CO₂ Capture Technology at a Coal-Fired Power Plant — The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois (Champaign, IL) will build and operate a 10 MWe slipstream of the Linde/BASF post-combustion carbon capture technology at City Water, Light, and Power (CWLP) in Springfield, Illinois. The slipstream will treat approximately 5% of the gas generated at CWLP Unit 4.  The successful construction and operation of this plant will provide a means to demonstrate an economically attractive and transformational capture technology. The approach used to design, construct, and commission the design is an important feature of the technology and will help enable the commercialization process. The regional economic benefit and the ability to repurpose some of the existing workforce at CWLP will also demonstrate how carbon capture can aid regional economies.

DOE Funding: $47,157,412; Non-DOE Funding: $20,000,000; Total Value: $67,157,412 

Large Pilot Testing of the MTR Membrane Post-Combustion CO2 Capture Process — Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. (Newark, CA) will build and operate a large pilot membrane carbon capture system developed by Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. (MTR) at the Wyoming Integrated Test Center (WITC) located in Gillette, Wyoming. Successful operation of the MTR membrane system will result in capturing 70% of the carbon dioxide (CO₂) from a 10 MWe slipstream, representing capture of about 150 tonnes of CO₂ per day at the WITC. The slipstream will treat approximately 2.4% of the single unit at WITC.  The ability of the technology to meet cost targets at this scale will be an important step toward the commercial deployment of a competitive and compelling alternative to solvent-based carbon capture systems.

DOE Funding: $51,699,939; Non-DOE Funding: $12,924,160; Total Value: $64,624,099

The Office of Fossil Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) will manage the selected projects.

The Office of Fossil Energy funds research and development projects to reduce the cost of advanced fossil energy technologies and further the sustainable use of the nation’s fossil resources. To learn more about the programs within the Office of Fossil Energy, visit the Office of Fossil Energy website or sign up for FE news announcements. More information about the National Energy Technology Laboratory is available on the NETL website.