EPRI Studies Carbon Capture Upgrades for Coal Power Plants

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) announced in January of 2008 that five electric utilities in the United States and Canada have joined EPRI to host studies of the impacts of retrofitting advanced amine-based post-combustion carbon dioxide capture technology to existing coal-fired power plants. In addition to the five host site companies, 15 other companies and organizations, including six from Canada and one from Australia, have joined the project. The five host companies and sites include Edison Mission Group’s 1,536-megawatt (MW) Powerton Station, operated by Midwest Generation, in Pekin, Ill.; Great River Energy’s 1,100-MW Coal Creek Station in Underwood North Dakota; Nova Scotia Power’s two 160-MW units at its Lingan Generating Station in Lingan, Nova Scotia; Intermountain Power Agency’s 950-MW Intermountain Generation Station in Delta, Utah, and the 176-MW circulating fluidized bed boiler Unit 1 at FirstEnergy's Bay Shore Plant in Oregon, Ohio.  As global demand for electricity increases and regulators worldwide look at ways to reduce CO2 emissions, post-combustion capture (PCC) for both new and existing units could be an important option. However, retrofit of PCC to an existing plant presents significant challenges, including limited space for new plant equipment, limited heat available for process integration, additional cooling water requirements and potential steam turbine modifications.  Each site offers a unique combination of unit sizes and ages, existing and planned emissions controls, fuel types, steam conditions, boilers, turbines, cooling systems, and options for CO2 storage. The variety of data from the studies will provide the participants with valuable information applicable to their own individual power generating assets. These five studies will be conducted in 2009 and a report for each site will: • assess the most practical CO2 capture efficiency configuration based on site constraints; • determine the space required for the CO2 capture technology and the interfaces with existing systems; • estimate performance and costs for the PCC plant; and • assess the features of each plant that materially affect the cost and feasibility of the retrofit.For more information, visit www.epri.com.