Pilot power plant reuses waste CO₂

Carbon dioxide will play a critical role in generating electricity at a privately funded pilot project at La Porte, Texas. NET Power, the project’s developer, says that at the 50-MW demonstration power plant, CO₂ will turn a turbine rather than merely being a difficult-to-handle waste product. The facility uses an oxy-fuel technology, which burns natural gas in a pure oxygen environment, creating heat and CO₂ as a combustion by-product. This CO₂ is then concentrated and pressurized in the combustion system to a supercritical state. This pressurized CO₂ runs a turbine and generates electricity. The used CO₂ could be recycled into the pressurizing system, used for enhanced oil recovery, or sequestered deep underground, NET Power spokesman Walker Dimming says. The facility will cost about $140 million, which is being provided by international energy, technology, and construction firms, Dimming says. If the project is successful, it will be followed by a 295-MW plant. The demonstration project is a collaboration of CB&I, Toshiba, Exelon, and 8 Rivers Capital, a technology developer.