FOA 2180: Net-Zero Carbon Electricity and Hydrogen Plants

The four projects selected are as follows:

1. Design Development and System Integration Design Study for an Advanced Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion Power Plant with Carbon Capture – CONSOL Energy Inc. (Canonsburg, PA) aims to design an advanced coal-based power plant with the potential to be demonstrated in the next 5–10 years and begin achieving market penetration by 2030. As part of previous work performed under the Coal FIRST program, the CONSOL team completed conceptual design and pre-FEED studies for a ~300 MWnet advanced coal-based power plant using pressurized fluidized bed combustion (PFBC) technology. The goals of this project are to advance the development of the advanced PFBC power plant to a state of completion that provides adequate information — including information on the plant design, host site, environmental considerations, CO2 disposition strategy, and pro-forma financials — for use by decision makers and investors, and by engineering, procurement, and construction contractors for follow-on activities needed to construct a prototype plant.

2. Front-End Engineering Design Study for Hybrid Gas Turbine and USC Coal Boiler Concept (HGCC) Plant with Post Combustion Carbon Capture and Energy Storage System at City, Water, Light and Power Plant – The University of Illinois (Champaign, IL) seeks to complete a system integrated design study for a Hybrid Gas Turbine and USC Coal Boiler Concept (HGCC) with a post-combustion carbon capture and energy storage system that meets the requirements of the Coal FIRST program.  The project combines several strands of DOE research in a single next-generation plant design. Enhancements in power plant and component design, on-site energy storage, environmental gains from fuel-efficiency, and carbon utilization and storage will be combined to contribute to a modernized power supply that can readily adapt to and enable the growth of variable renewable energy. The project will combine a state-of-the-art 270 MW ultra-supercritical coal boiler subsystem with an 87 MW natural gas combustion turbine generator subsystem, a 50 MW energy storage system subsystem, a post combustion carbon capture subsystem, and an algae-based CO2 utilization subsystem.

3. Gasification of Coal and Biomass: The Route to Net-Negative-Carbon Power and Hydrogen – Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. (Palo Alto, CA) and partners plan to perform a system integrated design study on an oxygen-blown gasification system coupled with water-gas shift, pre-combustion CO2 capture, and pressure-swing adsorption working off a coal/biomass mix to yield high-purity hydrogen and a fuel off-gas that can generate power. There are several designs capable of producing 50 MW net from a flexible generator, over 8500 kg/hr. of hydrogen, and net-negative CO2 emissions. The plant will be hosted at one of two Nebraska Public Power District sites, where opportunities for enhanced oil recovery and sequestration have been investigated and where the need for low-carbon power and hydrogen is imminent. The principal biomass to be used is corn stover, prevalent in Nebraska where the plant will be located. It will be mixed with Powder River Basin coal, necessitating a gasifier that can use this feedstock and be flexible to allow other types.

4. Wabash Hydrogen Negative Emissions Technology Demonstration – Wabash Valley Resources, LLC (West Terre Haute, IN) in coordination with the Gas Technology Institute, seeks to complete design development, an Environmental Information Volume, an investment case and a system integrated design study to redevelop the existing Wabash Valley Resources coal gasification site in West Terre Haute, Indiana, into a Coal FIRST power plant for flexible fuel gasification‑based carbon-negative power and carbon-free hydrogen co-production. Co‑firing an existing gasification facility with biomass (woody biomass and/or agricultural residue) will enable the project to achieve net-negative carbon emissions while producing hydrogen that can be used to generate electricity or be sold as coproduct. CO2 will be captured and sequestered in nearby deep saline reservoirs that have already demonstrated suitability for storage, enabling the project to efficiently complete preparation for permanent CO2 sequestration.