The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) has selected four projects for cost-shared research and development under the funding opportunity announcement (FOA), Design Development and System Integration Design Studies for Coal FIRST Concepts. When fully negotiated and awarded, it is estimated that approximately $80 million in federal funding will be provided to these projects.
CONSOL Energy’s design project is one of four that will split an estimated $80 million in federal funding. CONSOL Energy Inc. is working to design a small coal-fired power plant that would capture its carbon dioxide emissions and store it underground.
The grant is meant to advance CONSOL’s design of a 300-megawatt power plant to the point that funders could decide whether to build a prototype over the next five to 10 years and begin achieving market penetration by 2030.
A possible location for a demonstration plant would be on the site of the company’s central coal preparation plant in Greene County, according to CONSOL’s conceptual work for a plant design.
The goals of this project are to advance the development of the advanced pressurized fluidized bed combustion (PFBC) power plant to a state of completion that provides adequate information — including information on the plant design, host site, environmental considerations, CO2 disposition strategy, and pro-forma financials — for use by decision makers and investors, and by engineering, procurement, and construction contractors for follow-on activities needed to construct a prototype plant.
