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NEWS RELEASE
October 12, 2016
CONTACT: Jason Begger
307-635-3573
[email protected]
Basin Electric Taps Local Contractor for Construction of Wyoming ITC
Gillette-Based Company Will Build Test Labs at Dry Fork Station
Gillette, Wyoming
– Basin Electric Power Cooperative announced this week that they have signed a contract with Hladky Construction Inc., a Gillette-based contractor, to build the Wyoming Integrated Test Center (ITC) – a research facility to advance Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) technologies slated for Dry Fork Station.
“This is another positive step forward in this project,” says John Jacobs, Basin Electric senior vice president of Operations. “We’re pleased to see this vision unfold, and we’re eager to see the results of innovation and ingenuity come to life at the Dry Fork Station.”
“While the ITC will have global reach, it is, at its heart, a Wyoming-driven project,” said Jason Begger, Executive Director of the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority. “The talents and expertise of Wyoming energy producers, Wyoming researchers and Wyoming scientists will play a significant role in the ITC and we are pleased to have a Wyoming contractor at the helm to construct the facility.”
“The Integrated Test Center represents an important step for coal generated power, and the energy industry of Campbell County,” said Scott Heibult with Hladky Construction. “With over four decades of service to Gillette, we are proud of the energy industry in Campbell County and proud to be involved in a project that could eventually lead to the production of a marketable commodity produced from carbon emissions. HCI looks forward to working together with the Basin Electric construction team towards a successful completion of this significant project, and the long term benefits it will offer.”
Basin Electric, a partner with the Wyoming ITC that is providing the host site along with additional in-kind contributions including engineering and construction management services, formalized a contract with Hladky Construction Inc. The contract was awarded after a competitive bidding process for Phase 2 of general construction work for the Wyoming ITC.
Hladky Construction Inc. was founded in Gillette in 1972 by Mike and Judy Hladky. Since then the company has successfully serviced multiple commercial and industrial projects in Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota.
Last week, the Wyoming ITC issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to identify candidates and select initial users of the test bays. Interested parties may obtain and submit applications at
www.wyomingitc.org.
Applicants will need to go through a secure login process, creating a username and password to obtain and upload the RFP.
Pre-construction engineering and design work on the ITC started in 2015. In March 2016, when the Dry Fork Station, which is jointly owned by Basin Electric and the Wyoming Municipal Power Agency, went into routine maintenance mode, a large steel damper was installed into the flue system that will help direct gas to researchers at the test center. The ITC is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2017.
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About the ITC
The ITC is a public-private partnership designed to foster the next generation of energy technology. The ITC will provide space for researchers to test Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration (CCUS) technologies using actual coal based flue gas from the Dry Fork Station near Gillette.
In 2014, with the support and encouragement of Governor Matt Mead, the Wyoming State Legislature allocated $15 million in funding for the design, construction and operation of an integrated test center to study the capture, sequestration and management of carbon emissions from a Wyoming coal-based power plant. An additional $5 million commitment from private industry was required under the appropriation, which has since been secured from the
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association
in addition to $1 million pledged from the
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
. Basin Electric Power Cooperative is providing additional in-kind contributions including engineering and construction management services at the Dry Fork Station host site, which is jointly owned by Basin Electric and the Wyoming Municipal Power Agency.
The ITC is slated to be one of a handful of such facilities around the world and only the second one in the United States. While many carbon capture technologies are being developed and studied in laboratory settings, the ITC will be one of the few research and testing facilities at an operating coal-fired powered plant. The ITC will allow for real world testing at an active power plant and alleviates typical concerns over being able to transfer technology from a lab to a plant.
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Wyoming Infrastructure Authority
200 E 17th Street
Cheyenne, WY 82001
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