US Department of Energy Awards $5.7 Million for Carbon Capture Technology Integration Project  

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management is awarding GE Gas Power’s front-end engineering design study “Retrofittable Advanced Combined Cycle Integration for Flexible Decarbonized Generation” $5,771,670 in federal funding, according to a GE press release. 

This funding is focused on carbon capture, utilization, and storage for power generation applications with a goal of commercial deployment by 2030. GE Gas Power will work with Southern Company, Linde, BASF, and Kiewit to develop a detailed plan for integrating carbon capture technologies with a natural gas combined cycle plant to capture approximately 95% of carbon dioxide emissions generated.  

The FEED study will be focused on Southern Company subsidiary Alabama Power’s James M. Barry Electric Generating Plant, located in Bucks, Alabama, which is powered by two GE 7F.04 gas turbines, part of GE’s 7F gas turbine fleet. GE said in the release it will research advanced technology and control concepts to integrate the combined cycle power plant with Linde’s Gen 2 carbon capture solution based on BASF OASE® blue technology. The project will also include gas and steam turbine equipment enhancements to improve the carbon capture process, with a goal of reducing the impact of the carbon capture process on the power plant’s output, performance, and equipment cost.  

“We are committed to leading a more sustainable power industry that will provide the world with the affordable, reliable, and less carbon-intense electricity it needs today, while maintaining laser-focused on researching, developing, and demonstrating the technologies that will be required for the future,” said Scott Strazik, CEO of GE Power, in the release.  

This FEED study — a detailed blueprint and operating business guide — will represent a pre-requisite for future construction projects and “it can accelerate commercial deployment of other projects.”  

“For the success of this study, the collaboration with Southern Company and Linde, BASF and Kiewit is crucial,” said John Catillaz, director of Decarbonization Marketing at GE Gas Power. “To develop a sustainable and viable carbon capture solution integrated into the existing power plant, we will go beyond the scope of the study to consider the economics and the performance of the plant holistically, including a plan for the transportation and storage of the captured carbon dioxide emissions.” 

GE and Linde also announced an agreement signed in December 2021 to strengthen their existing cooperation with a focus on exploring carbon capture and storage opportunities in North America.  

Kiewit will provide engineering procurement construction capabilities. 

“The U.S. Department of Energy’s commitment to and investment in the development of accessible, scalable carbon capture solutions is crucial to the decarbonization of power generation,” said David Claggett, senior vice president at Kiewit Energy Group, Inc. “We look forward to working with the powerhouse of technical experts that are involved in the study and to making a meaningful, positive contribution in reducing carbon emissions at natural gas combined cycle facilities.”