Wyoming Integrated Test Center Hosts Open House
First Project Update to be Held Monday, March 21 in Gillette, Open to the Public
Cheyenne, Wyoming – The Wyoming Infrastructure Authority (WIA) is hosting a public update on the Integrated Test Center (ITC) in Gillette next week, offering members of the community, media and local stakeholders the opportunity to learn more about the cutting-edge project slated for the Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s Dry Fork Station near Gillette.
Monday, March 21, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Gillette College Tech Center, there will be an open house to provide an update on the ITC hosted by the WIA, the agency charged with managing the pre-commissioning phase of the project. Executive Director of the WIA, Jason Begger will give a brief presentation on the history, current status and future of the ITC. Details are as follows:
Monday, March 21 from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Gillette College Tech Center
Peabody Energy Hall
3251 South 4-J Road
Gillette, Wyoming
The event is free and open to the public. No RSVP is required. For more information about the ITC or the open house, please call Jason Begger, Executive Director of the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority, at 307-635-3573 or email at jason.begger@wyo.gov.
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 Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s Dry Fork Station near Gillette.
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 fired 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 additional in-kind contributions including engineering and construction management services.
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.
Pre-construction engineering and design work started in 2015. This month, when the Dry Fork Station goes into routine maintenance mode, a large steel damper will be installed into the flue system that will help direct gas to researchers at the test center. Additional engineering is ongoing with site preparation and other construction work to begin in the spring of 2016. The ITC is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2017.
