Washington (Platts)--15Jan2009

The US Department of Agriculture approved a $300 million loan to a North
Dakota coal-fired power plant to install carbon capture technology.

The loan, to the Basin Electric Power Cooperative, would represent one of
the few efforts in the US to retrofit or build carbon capture technology in an
existing plant.

Basin Electric is uniquely suited for the project because their Great
Plains Synfuels Plant already captures CO2, compresses the gas into a liquid,
and then sends the CO2 to Canada for enhanced oil recovery. This process of
oil recovery helps prolong the life of aging wells by injecting CO2, which
pushes more oil to the surface. The oil fields are owned by EnCana and are
part of the Weyburn permanent carbon storage project in Saskatchewan.

The 450-MW Antelope Valley Station Unit 1, near Beulah, North Dakota,
will be retrofitted for the project. The loan is through the USDA Office of
Rural Development's Rural Utilities Program.

"This project will enhance our knowledge base and set the stage for
potential carbon sequestration projects involving baseline power generating
plants in the future," Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said in a statement.

--Alexander Duncan, alexander_duncan@platts.com