Cheyenne, Wyomin
g – The Wyoming Integrated Test Center (ITC) will take the national stage on Tuesday during a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing to discuss the future of advanced energy technologies, including carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS).
“The technology developed at the Wyoming ITC has the potential to shape the future of energy production and use forever,” said Executive Director of the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority (WIA) Jason Begger. “However, this type of game-changing technology doesn’t happen in a vacuum. We need public policy and regulations that encourage its development and supports the scientists, researchers, companies and financial backers who are making it a reality.”
Begger will testify on Tuesday, June 27, 2017 before the Senate Subcommittee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety. The hearing, entitled “Developing and Deploying Advanced Clean Energy Technologies,” will feature a diverse group of panelists. The goal of the hearing is to foster a greater understanding of advanced nuclear and CCUS technologies that can help shape future and pending legislative proposals and regulations.
As the head of the WIA, the entity charged with overseeing construction of the ITC, Begger will address the public-private partnership that has made the project a reality, as well as the importance of achieving economic viability in CCUS technologies.
“When it comes to addressing our energy needs, we need short-, mid- and long-term plans,” said Begger. “The Wyoming ITC is a mid-term plan that can help lead to long-term solutions.”
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.
