On Nov. 28, Basin Electric sent a letter supporting a funding proposal by Membrane Technology & Research (MTR) for U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funds. DOE issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement for integrated carbon capture, transport, and storage systems on Sept. 22.
The funds would be used for a $5 million supplemental front-end engineering design (FEED) study. The study is a supplement to the one MTR finished last summer because DOE now requires 90% carbon dioxide capture and the previous work was done with a 70% capture target. If the proposal is successful, DOE would provide 50% of the project budget. The other 50% would be a cost share from others, including $2 million from the state of Wyoming and $500,000 provided by Basin Electric (if selected for the DOE award).
Basin Electric’s Dry Fork Station is the host site for the Wyoming Integrated Test Center (ITC), a carbon capture and utilization testing center attached to the plant. The ITC and MTR have been working together since 2018 when MTR selected the ITC as its testing location.
“As the owner and operator of Dry Fork Station, we look forward to supporting the project team in this endeavor,” Basin Electric CEO and General Manager Todd Telesz said in the letter. “Basin Electric has followed and contributed to MTR’s prior development work with the Department of Energy and is interested in the potential to apply this technology to Dry Fork Station.”
The announcement for the DOE funding is expected in the spring of 2023.
