Southern Company has announced that it will manage and run the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Carbon Capture Center that will work towards the development and testing of advanced technologies that will be used in coal-fired power stations to capture carbon dioxide. In a power station setting, the center will perform testing and analysis at a size big enough to give relevant performance information according to real operating conditions to allow scale-up of the technologies.
The center will collaborate with technology developers and scientists from universities, industry and government who are developing latest carbon capture technologies.
Situated at the Alabama-based Power Systems Development Facility (PSDF), the center is a partnership between DOE and major energy firms. Apart from Southern Company and the DOE, the other partners include Peabody Energy, Arch Coal, Luminant, American Electric Power and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). As work proceeds further, the center is likely to add new partners.
David Ratcliffe, Southern Company chairman, president and chief executive officer, said “Carbon capture is an important component of the diverse portfolio of solutions and technologies the nation needs to meet our energy and environmental challenges. This center will serve as a crucial bridge that takes emerging carbon capture technology from the laboratory to commercial demonstration.”
He added “With coal currently providing more than half of the nation’s electricity, it should be part of the energy mix for years to come because of its abundance, relatively low cost and effectiveness as a generating fuel. The National Carbon Capture Center, along with other research initiatives under way across the country, will play a major role in ensuring that the United States can continue to utilize coal resources in a cleaner, economical way.”
DOE stated that it wants the center to play a key role through technological information in US’s efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Dr. Victor Der, acting assistant secretary for fossil energy, said “The management of CO2 from coal-fired processes is considered by many to be the single most important component required for successful development of advanced coal-fired power systems. The creation of a national research center focused on carbon capture from fossil-fueled power plants bolsters U.S. efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while taking advantage of America’s vast coal resources.”
The center intends to perform testing on pre- and post-combustion carbon capture technologies. Existing facilities at the PSDF will be altered to perform the pre-combustion CO2 capture part of the NCCC project. New facilities to perform post-combustion testing and assessment will be on the site of Plant Gaston, a coal-fueled production station situated adjacent to the PSDF that is run by Alabama Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company.
The National Carbon Capture Center, once completely operational in 2010, will combine science and innovation in technology creation, together with real-world testing ability, to play a major role in the attempt to attain economical and dependable capture of carbon dioxide from coal-based power production.