A World First: Coal-Fired Plant Barry Begins Underground Storage
of CO2
U.S. Department of Energy (NETL) Release
27 August 2012
Carbon dioxide (CO2) injection has begun at the world’s first
fully integrated coal power and geologic storage project in
southwest Alabama, with the goals of assessing integration of the
technologies involved and laying the foundation for future use of
CO2 for enhanced oil recovery (EOR).
The Anthropogenic Test, conducted by the Southeast Regional Carbon
Sequestration Partnership (SECARB), uses CO2 from a newly
constructed post-combustion CO2-capture facility at Alabama
Power’s 2,657-megawatt coal-fired Barry Electric Generating Plant
(Plant Barry). It will help demonstrate the feasibility of carbon
capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), considered by most energy
experts as an important option for meeting the challenge of
helping to reduce atmospheric CO2 emissions linked to potential
climate change.
In a unique process developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, a
small amount of flue gas from Plant Barry—equivalent to the amount
produced when generating 25 megawatts of electricity—is being
diverted from the plant and captured using Mitsubishi’s advanced
amine process to produce a nearly pure stream of CO2.
Once captured, the CO2 is transported approximately 12 miles west
to the southern flank of a geologic structure called the
Citronelle Dome, within the Paluxy saline formation. A pipeline
was constructed for this purpose in 2011. The Paluxy is an ideal
site for injection because it is more than 9,000 feet underground
and is overlain by multiple geologic confining units that serve as
barriers to prevent CO2 from escaping.
Carbon dioxide injection will take place over 2 years at a rate of
up to 550 metric tons of CO2 per day. Multiple monitoring
technologies will be deployed to track the CO2 plume, measure the
pressure front, evaluate CO2 trapping mechanisms, and ensure that
the CO2 remains in the formation. In 2017, following 3 years of
post-injection monitoring, the site will be closed. At that time,
the wells will either be plugged and abandoned