Gillette, Wyoming
-
Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (KHI) and Governor Matt Mead announced on Tuesday that KHI will test their solid sorbent capture technology the Wyoming Integrated Test Center (ITC).
“We are thrilled to have KHI slated to test their technology at the Integrated Test Center,” said Jason Begger, Wyoming Infrastructure Authority’s Executive Director. “Japan is committed using coal to meet their country’s long-term energy needs and has been a strong partner with Wyoming in our collective efforts to find innovative and economical uses for our mineral resources through the development of carbon capture utilization, and sequestration (CCUS). The technology developed at the ITC will have a positive impact on the global effort to advance carbon management technologies.”
The Integrated Test Center is drawing tenants from around the world to test at this state-of-the-art facility; which is located at an operating power plant and gives researchers direct access to coal-fired flue gas. In addition to Kawasaki, five of the finalists from the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE will be testing at the ITC through 2020. The five finalists’ teams are from Canada, China, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The State of Wyoming and JCOAL have been working together since 2016, when Governor Mead and Osamu Tsukamoto, President of JCOAL, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) committing to cooperation in coal research and development of technologies and coal trade.
JCOAL operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan and is supported by more than 120 member coal-related businesses, including Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Nippon Steel and Toshiba. The organization works to promote overall coal activities, from coal mining to the field of coal utilization, toward a stable energy supply, sustainable economic growth and the reduction of the global environment emissions.
-End-
About the ITC
The ITC is a public-private partnership designed to foster the next generation of energy technology. The ITC will provide space for researchers to test Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration (CCUS) technologies using actual coal-based flue gas from the Dry Fork Station near Gillette.
In 2014, with the support and encouragement of Governor Matt Mead, the Wyoming State Legislature allocated $15 million in funding for the design, construction and operation of an integrated test center to study the capture, sequestration and management of carbon emissions from a Wyoming coal-based power plant. An additional $5 million commitment from private industry was required under the appropriation, which has since been secured from the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association in addition to $1 million pledged from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Basin Electric Power Cooperative is providing additional in-kind contributions including engineering and construction management services at the Dry Fork Station host site, which is jointly owned by Basin Electric and the Wyoming Municipal Power Agency.
The ITC is slated to be one of a handful of such facilities around the world and only the second one in the United States. While many carbon capture technologies are being developed and studied in laboratory settings, the ITC will be one of the few research and testing facilities at an operating coal-fired powered plant. The ITC will allow for real world testing at an active power plant and alleviates typical concerns over being able to transfer technology from a lab to a plant.
About WIA
The Wyoming Infrastructure Authority (WIA), is an instrumentality of the State of Wyoming whose purpose is to advance Wyoming’s Energy Strategy by promoting the value of Wyoming’s energy resources, supporting expanded infrastructure, enhancing resource development and operation, and ensuring a credible and objective voice for Wyoming. WIA is the managing entity for the Wyoming Integrated Test Center.
$1 billion in bonding authority was given to the WIA for the financing of infrastructure relative to facilities within its legislative purview. The authority was created by the State Legislature in 2004 and is governed by a five-member Board of Directors appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Wyoming State Senate.
For more information on the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority, visit
www.wyia.org
.
