Released August 04, 2011 | SUGAR LAND
en
Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A 25-megawatt (MW) carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) pilot project began operating earlier this summer at the James M. Barry Power Station, operated by Alabama Power (Birmingham, Alabama), a unit of Southern Company (NYSE:SO) (Atlanta, Georgia).
The Barry project is now the world's largest CCS project at a coal-fired power plant, Southern Company said in a statement. The project, which began operating June 13, will capture an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year over its three-year lifespan, spokesperson Stephanie Kirijan told Industrial Info.
The pilot project will use an advanced amine solvent developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Limited (TYO:7011) (Tokyo, Japan) to capture a slipstream of CO2 from Barry Unit 5, a 788-megawatt (MW) coal-fired generator. The captured gas will be sequestered in a saline formation about 11 miles from the power plant. The Mitsubishi technology is called KM-CDR. McAbee Construction Incorporated (Tuscaloosa, Alabama) built the CCS project. The Barry pilot project cost approximately $111.4 million to construct, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) (Washington, D.C.) The agency funded about $77 million of the project cost.
"This is a significant milestone in our continuing efforts to research, develop and implement 21st century coal technologies," Southern Company Chairman, President and CEO Thomas A. Fanning said in a statement. "Because coal is a low-cost and abundant natural resource, it is important for Southern Company and the industry to preserve coal as a fuel source."
The large capital cost of CCS projects, coupled with the absence of federal regulation or laws limiting carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, have stymied some large-scale utility investments in CCS projects.
Last month, American Electric Power Company Incorporated (NYSE:AEP) (Columbus, Ohio) terminated plans to build a 235-MW commercial-scale CCS project at its Mountaineer Power Station in New Haven, West Virginia. The project carried an estimated price tag of $668 million, although DoE awarded AEP a grant of up to $334 million to pay for its construction. In announcing the decision, AEP officials said their hands were forced by the lack of federal requirements to lower CO2 emissions, and the unwillingness of state utility regulators to include the project's costs in customer electric rates. For more on the cancellation of the commercial-scale Mountaineer CCS project, see July 18, 2011, article - AEP Terminates Commercial-Scale CCS Project in West Virginia.
Earlier this year, AEP wrapped up what it termed a "successful" 20-MW CCS technology validation project at Mountaineer. AEP officials said the project was concluded according to schedule. Over its 19-month lifespan, the technology validation project operated more than 6,500 hours, captured more than 50,000 metric tons of CO2 and permanently stored more than 37,000 metric tons of CO2. It captured up to 90% of the CO2 from a slipstream of flue gas.
In early 2010, Southern Company cancelled a larger-scale CCS project at the Barry Station. That project, reportedly 160 MW, would have cost an estimated $700 million to build. The project would have captured and sequestered up to 1 million tons of CO2 per year. In December 2009, the DoE awarded $295 million in clean-coal funding to the larger Barry CCS project.
Speaking about the 2010 decision to drop the larger CCS project at Barry, Southern Company spokesperson Stephanie Kirijan told Industrial Info the decision "was in the best interest of our customers and shareholders. This was especially true given the financial commitment needed, the tight timeline to secure funding and our ongoing investments in other CCS initiatives. Current and forecasted economic conditions also factored into our decision."
In announcing the beginning of operations at the Barry pilot CCS project, Fanning noted that another Southern Company subsidiary, Mississippi Power (Gulfport, Mississippi) was moving forward on construction of a $2.5 billion, 582-MW integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) generator with CCS in Kemper County, Mississippi. That plant will burn lignite and use the company's Transport Integrated Gasification (TRIG) technology, which will capture and reuse an estimated 65% of CO2 emissions.
View Plant Profile - 1006575 1013868 1071647
View Project Report - 3002827 24001398
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
The Barry project is now the world's largest CCS project at a coal-fired power plant, Southern Company said in a statement. The project, which began operating June 13, will capture an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year over its three-year lifespan, spokesperson Stephanie Kirijan told Industrial Info.
The pilot project will use an advanced amine solvent developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Limited (TYO:7011) (Tokyo, Japan) to capture a slipstream of CO2 from Barry Unit 5, a 788-megawatt (MW) coal-fired generator. The captured gas will be sequestered in a saline formation about 11 miles from the power plant. The Mitsubishi technology is called KM-CDR. McAbee Construction Incorporated (Tuscaloosa, Alabama) built the CCS project. The Barry pilot project cost approximately $111.4 million to construct, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) (Washington, D.C.) The agency funded about $77 million of the project cost.
"This is a significant milestone in our continuing efforts to research, develop and implement 21st century coal technologies," Southern Company Chairman, President and CEO Thomas A. Fanning said in a statement. "Because coal is a low-cost and abundant natural resource, it is important for Southern Company and the industry to preserve coal as a fuel source."
The large capital cost of CCS projects, coupled with the absence of federal regulation or laws limiting carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, have stymied some large-scale utility investments in CCS projects.
Last month, American Electric Power Company Incorporated (NYSE:AEP) (Columbus, Ohio) terminated plans to build a 235-MW commercial-scale CCS project at its Mountaineer Power Station in New Haven, West Virginia. The project carried an estimated price tag of $668 million, although DoE awarded AEP a grant of up to $334 million to pay for its construction. In announcing the decision, AEP officials said their hands were forced by the lack of federal requirements to lower CO2 emissions, and the unwillingness of state utility regulators to include the project's costs in customer electric rates. For more on the cancellation of the commercial-scale Mountaineer CCS project, see July 18, 2011, article - AEP Terminates Commercial-Scale CCS Project in West Virginia.
Earlier this year, AEP wrapped up what it termed a "successful" 20-MW CCS technology validation project at Mountaineer. AEP officials said the project was concluded according to schedule. Over its 19-month lifespan, the technology validation project operated more than 6,500 hours, captured more than 50,000 metric tons of CO2 and permanently stored more than 37,000 metric tons of CO2. It captured up to 90% of the CO2 from a slipstream of flue gas.
In early 2010, Southern Company cancelled a larger-scale CCS project at the Barry Station. That project, reportedly 160 MW, would have cost an estimated $700 million to build. The project would have captured and sequestered up to 1 million tons of CO2 per year. In December 2009, the DoE awarded $295 million in clean-coal funding to the larger Barry CCS project.
Speaking about the 2010 decision to drop the larger CCS project at Barry, Southern Company spokesperson Stephanie Kirijan told Industrial Info the decision "was in the best interest of our customers and shareholders. This was especially true given the financial commitment needed, the tight timeline to secure funding and our ongoing investments in other CCS initiatives. Current and forecasted economic conditions also factored into our decision."
In announcing the beginning of operations at the Barry pilot CCS project, Fanning noted that another Southern Company subsidiary, Mississippi Power (Gulfport, Mississippi) was moving forward on construction of a $2.5 billion, 582-MW integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) generator with CCS in Kemper County, Mississippi. That plant will burn lignite and use the company's Transport Integrated Gasification (TRIG) technology, which will capture and reuse an estimated 65% of CO2 emissions.
View Plant Profile - 1006575 1013868 1071647
View Project Report - 3002827 24001398
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
