ADA-ES, Inc. has initiated the fabrication and construction phase of a 1MW Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Capture Pilot Plant. The pilot will be installed outside Birmingham, Alabama at Southern Company subsidiary Alabama Power’s Miller Electric Generating Plant.
The USD$20.5 million project is being administered by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory’s Carbon Capture Program (DOE-NETL). ADA is the prime contractor for the project and the DOE-NETL is providing USD$15 million of the funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and Southern Company is co-funding the project with other participants.
ADA’s regenerable solid-sorbent-based clean coal technology captures CO2 from coal-fired power plants and industrial sources. The technology offers the potential to substantially reduce the amount of energy required to capture CO2 in comparison to competing technologies.
The pilot plant is targeted to demonstrate the technical, economic and energy benefits of a promising CO2 capture technology with pilot testing results to be used to develop a preliminary full-scale commercial design in preparation for demonstration at the next scale.
ADA President and CEO, Dr. Michael Durham said, “We believe that this project is an mportant step in advancing ADA’s vision for a future with cleaner energy. ADA has an established track record of engaging in collaborative partnerships with DOE-NETL and our power generating customers to develop and commercialize innovative solutions to reduce emissions from coal, a low-cost, abundant and secure national fuel resource.”
The pilot plant is scheduled to commence operation in October 2013.