Carbon capture project at Dry Fork gets $4.6 million in federal funding

GILLETTE — A carbon capture project in Campbell County recently got more than $4 million in federal funding.

Last week, Membrane Technology and Research Carbon Capture received $4.6 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations to develop a design study for an integrated carbon capture and storage project at Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s Dry Fork Station.

The Wyoming Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise, or CarbonSAFE project, which is led by the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources is a co-recipient on the award.

The project includes a study for a proposed capture plant featuring MTR’s second-generation membrane. The project aims to capture, compress and store onsite 3 million tons of CO2 per year, achieving at least a 90% carbon capture rate.

“MTR Carbon Capture is proud to be part of this transformative project that brings together our Polaris membrane capture technology with Wyoming CarbonSAFE’s carbon storage expertise to further develop the future of CCS,” said Brett Andrews, President of MTR Carbon Capture, in a press release. “Built on more than 15 years of research and development, this project could tee up commercial CCS operations, not only at Dry Fork Station but for other industrial sites throughout the world.”

“We are fortunate to have MTR developing cutting-edge, environmentally forward capture technology to help progress carbon management for Dry Fork Station and for Wyoming CarbonSAFE,” said Fred McLaughlin, director of SER’s Center for Economic Geology Research. “This award will truly help to advance CCS development at the project site and across the State of Wyoming.”

This study funding is part of a program through the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations that seeks to address the need to advance carbon management technologies.

The goal is to accelerate the demonstration and deployment of these technologies. MTR Carbon Capture will demonstrate the project is ready for deployment by developing the engineering design for the capture plant, the CO2 pipeline and injection wells.

The company will engage with the public on all aspects of the project.

“Basin Electric congratulates MTR Carbon Capture on an important next step in further evaluating carbon capture at our Dry Fork Station,” said Todd Brickhouse, CEO and general manager of Basin Electric Power Cooperative. “The investment required to bring carbon capture and storage technology from study to pilot to full-scale production is substantial, and successful deployment will require partnerships at many different levels. Dispatchable generation facilities such as Dry Fork Station are integral to Basin Electric providing reliable and affordable electricity to our membership, and the work MTR Carbon Capture is doing today is important to keeping electricity reliable across our nation.”

This project is the second Department of Energy award for MTR Carbon Capture at Dry Fork Station.

In 2023, the company began construction on a large-scale pilot plant at the Wyoming Integrated Test Center to capture CO2 from flue gas produced at Dry Fork Station. When operational later this year, it will be the world’s largest membrane-based carbon capture pilot project.

This story was published on April 2, 2024.