Alstom together with its US partners EPRI and We Energies launches innovative project to capture CO2 using chilled ammonia

Alstom, together with its US partners the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and We Energies, launched a pilot project based in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, that uses chilled ammonia to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from coal-fueled power plants.

Alstom designed, constructed and will operate the 1.7 MW system that captures CO2 from a portion of coal-fired boiler flue gas at We Energies Pleasant Prairie Power Plant, a 1,224 MW coal-fired generating station. Alstoms process uses chilled ammonia to capture CO2 and isolates it in a highly concentrated, high-pressure form. In laboratory testing it has demonstrated the potential to capture more than 90 percent of CO2 at a cost that is far less than other carbon capture technologies. Once captured, the CO2 can be used commercially or sequestered in suitable underground geologic sites.

" The dedication of this pilot is a significant milestone in our ongoing partnership with We Energies and EPRI, said Jean-Michel Aubertin, Senior Vice President, Alstom's Energy and Environment Systems Group. We Energies' operational expertise and EPRI's financial and research collaboration support are perfect complements to Alstom's leadership in CO2 capture research and development. This plant will provide invaluable information in leading to commercialization of CO2 capturetechnology.

The demonstration project will provide the opportunity to test the process on a larger scale and to evaluate its potential to remove CO2 while reducing the energy used in the process.

Gale Klappa, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Wisconsin Energy, the parent company of We Energies, called the pilot project a critical step in the research and development of this process. Developing cost-effective carbon capture technology is one of the most important environmental challenges facing the utility industry in the 21st century and its important that we take steps now to achieve a long-term technology solution, he added.

EPRI will conduct an engineering and environmental performance and cost analysis during the project, which will last at least one year. Through EPRIs collaborative research and development program, more than 30 organizations representing a large portion of the coal-fueled utilities in the United States have committed to support this project.

We Energies, Alstom and 35 other companies worked together to advance this technology, said EPRI President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Pecker. EPRI will conduct an extensive evaluation of the systems performance and support the development of technological and economic analyses associated with applying the carbon-capture process on a commercial scale, primarily to larger coal-fueled power plants.

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