DOE Seeks to Invest $1.3B to Commercialize Carbon Capture, Storage Tech
July 9, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS
The solicitation is seeking multiple cost-shared projects to advance coal-based power generation technologies that capture and store the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2).
The DOE anticipates $290 million will be available for funding of selected projects through fiscal year (FY) 2009 and an additional $1.01B is expected to be available in subsequent years, subject to appropriations by Congress.
The FOA provides instructions for submitting applications and outlines the mission need and background, project description and the primary technical goals and performance requirements.
The FOA also provides the evaluation criteria, terms and conditions of a model cooperative agreement, as well as cost-sharing required for public-private cooperation under FutureGen projects.
Applications are due Oct. 8, 2008 with the selection of projects targeted for the end of 2008.
DOE announced a restructured approach to its FutureGen project on Jan. 30, 2008 to build on technological R&D advancements in CCS technology achieved over the past five years. This approach responds to changing market conditions for clean coal technology, as well as efforts to limit taxpayer exposure and maximize the U.S. federal government's investment in this cutting-edge technology, said DOE.
The restructured approach aims to accelerate the near-term deployment of advanced clean coal technology by equipping new IGCC or other clean coal commercial power plants with CCS technology. By funding multiple projects DOE expects at least to double the amount of CO2 sequestered compared to the amount sequestered under the concept announced in 2003.
According to DOE, when these plants are operational, they will be the cleanest coal-fired power plants in the world - each capturing and storing an expected one million metric tons of CO2 per year.
Subject to compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the FOA envisions commercial operation of IGCC or other clean coal power plants equipped with CCS technology to begin as soon as the plants are commissioned by the end of 2015. The FutureGen approach will focus on the challenges associated with avoiding and reducing carbon emissions through sequestration.
Technical, economic and operational results from multiple projects will inform and guide the promulgation of regulations related to wide-scale carbon sequestration activities and at the same time will help establish technologies and protocols for CO2 monitoring, mitigation and verification, said DOE.
The FOA requires that at least 50% of the energy output of the project's energy conversion system be used to produce electricity and the project must be located in the U.S. The FutureGen goal is 90% capture of carbon content in the syngas or flue gas. Projects must also remove at least 90% of the mercury emissions based on mercury content of the coal and reduce sulfur, nitrogen oxides and particulate emissions to very low levels.
To ensure safe and permanent sequestration, DOE also includes in the FOA monitoring and verification performance requirements for FutureGen projects, including:
- Quantifying and assessing CO2 capture, transport and storage during a three-to-five-year demonstration of at least one million metric tons of CO2 injected per year in a saline formation.
- Monitoring and reporting to DOE the plumes of injected CO2 for a minimum of two years after cessation of the injection demonstration.
- Developing information necessary to estimate costs of future CO2 management systems.
According to DOE, clean coal technology is a vital component of the U.S. federal government's vision for a cleaner, more secure energy future and the restructured approach to FutureGen will demonstrate the integration of IGCC or other clean coal technology with CCS to enable wider use and more rapid commercialization, facilitating economic growth and increasing living standards in a way that maximizes federal investment and limits taxpayer risk.
The federal government's FY 2009 budget request of $648 million for clean coal R&D and deployment represents the largest amount requested for a DOE coal program in more than 25 years and builds on more than $2.5B invested to advance clean coal technology since 2001.
"The department is committed to increasing the nation's energy security and addressing CO2 emissions by ensuring coal, an abundant domestic resource, can be used to meet our growing energy demand in an environmentally responsible way," Under Secretary of Energy Bud Albright said. "This announcement brings us one step closer towards the installation of carbon sequestration technology on commercial-scale clean coal power plants."
Source: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy.