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Wyoming Integrated Test Center Construction Kicks Off
Governor Matt Mead & ITC Partners Join Local, State Officials and Industry Leaders for Groundbreaking Ceremony 
 

Gillette, Wyoming – The next generation of low-carbon energy technology took a big step forward today with the official ground breaking of the Wyoming Integrated Test Center, a cutting edge carbon research facility being built outside of Gillette.

Wyoming Governor Matt Mead teamed up with representatives from Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE for the ceremony at the Dry Fork Power Station, owned by Basin Electric Power Cooperative and the Wyoming Municipal Power Agency. Local and state leaders, as well as additional project partners and stakeholders were in attendance.

“This is truly a tremendous occasion we mark here today – for Gillette, for Wyoming, for scientists and researchers, for energy workers and energy providers … for all of us who go home and turn the lights on at night,” said Jason Begger, Executive Director of the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority. “The ITC represents the very best of what is possible through a private-public partnership, and is positioned to capitalize on smart technological innovation that will deliver energy independence and reduced carbon emissions.”

Following the groundbreaking ceremony, a one-hour roundtable discussion with Governor Matt Mead and representatives of partner organizations was held. Full audio of the panel discussion can be accessed here.

To watch video of the panel discussion, please click here. 

Photos of the event will be available shortly on the ITC Facebook page: www.facebook.com/WyomingITC. 

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About the ITC
The Integrated Test Center 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, WY. 

In 2014, with the support and encouragement of Governor 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 is providing the host site as well as many in-kind contributions including engineering and construction management services.

The ITC is slated to become one of only a handful of such facilities around the world, and only the second 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 located at an operating coal-fired power plant. The ITC will allow for real world carbon capture testing on-site, alleviating typical concerns over transferring the technology from a plant to the lab.

Pre-construction engineering and design work at the ITC began in 2015. Last month, when the Dry Fork Station 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.


Wyoming Infrastructure Authority
 200 E 17th Street
Cheyenne, WY 82001
307-635-3573    jason.begger@wyo.gov