Allentown, PA-based PPL Corporation announced Friday that it and its research partners have been awarded $72 million by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations to fund carbon capture research projects
The carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and research and development project is expected to cost more than $100 million, officials said. Developed in partnership with the University of Kentucky and others, the project will be hosted at PPL subsidiaries Louisville Gas and Electric Company’s (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities Company’s (KU) Cane Run 7 natural gas combined-cycle generating station in Louisville, Ky.
“Across PPL, we continue to pursue a comprehensive clean energy strategy to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” PPL President and Chief Executive Officer Vincent Sorgi said. “As part of our strategy, we’re focused on driving innovation and advancing technologies that can be scaled safely, reliably and affordably to meet our customers’ energy needs, including carbon capture and sequestration technologies.”
The 20-megawatt research system will be designed to capture a portion of the CO2 from the natural gas plant’s flue gas through advanced heat-integrated CO2 capture technology. The goal, officials said, is to capture up to 240 tons of CO2 per day, and up to 90,000 metric tons of CO2 per year – the CO2 emission equivalent to 20,000 gasoline-powered cars in one year. The technology could be an important step in assessing the future viability of utility-scale carbon capture technology on natural gas units, officials said.
“For almost two decades, the University of Kentucky has partnered with PPL on carbon capture projects that laid the foundation for industry-leading research. By scaling up UK’s carbon capture technology and utilizing technology transfer, Kentucky can not only put carbon dioxide to industrial use, it can enhance the state’s position in energy-intensive manufacturing sectors,” Dr. Eli Capilouto, president of the University of Kentucky, said.