Jan. 28

Five North American electric utilities will offer up their power plants to study the impact of retrofitting existing coal-fired units with carbon capture technology.

The Electric Power Research Institute is leading the experiment, which will look at advanced amine-based post-combustion carbon dioxide capture technology. Fifteen other companies and groups will join the EPRI and the five utilities.

The companies and power plants that will test the technology are: Edison Mission Group´s 1,536-megawatt Powerton Station in Pekin, Ill.; Great River Energy´s 1,100-megawatt Coal Creek Station in Underwood, N.D.; Nova Scotia Power´s two 160-megawatt units at its Lingan Generating Station in Lingan, Nova Scotia, Intermountain Power Agency´s 950-megawatt Intermountain Generation Station in Delta, Utah; and FirstEnergy´s 176-megawatt Unit 1 at its Bay Shore Plant in Oregon, Ohio.

Retrofitting carbon capture equipment to existing plants is challenging because there is limited space for the new equipment, limited heat available and additional cooling water requirements, said Bryan Hannegan, vice president of generation and environment for EPRI.

They will conduct the studies this year, reporting on each to asses the most practical carbon dioxide capture efficiency, determine the space required for equipment and estimate the performance and costs for the different types of power plants.

Contact Waste & Recycling News reporter Joe Truini at 330-865-6166 or jtruini@crain.com

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