Minnkota carbon capture project lines up financing, seeks permitting
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Minnkota carbon capture project lines up financing, seeks permitting

Minnkota Power Cooperative said it is seeking permits for its proposed carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at the Milton R. Young Power Station in Center, North Dakota.

Project Tundra is designed to capture up to four million metric tons of CO2 annually from the coal-fired plant. Minnkota said it plans to retrofit the 430 MW Unit 2 to capture up to 90% of its CO2 emissions. Unit 2 is a cyclone-fired wet bottom boiler from Babcock & Wilcox.

Minnkota said the CO2 will be stored more than a mile underground in geologic formations. Minnkota said it currently has the largest fully permitted CO2 storage facility in the U.S. and is pursuing additional CO2 storage opportunities near the Milton R. Young plant.

In late July, Minnkota lined up a tentative $150 million loan to advance the project. The loan was authorized by the state’s Clean Sustainable Energy Authority (CSEA) and is in addition to an earlier $100 million CSEA loan approved in 2022. Project Tundra partners also applied for a $350 million grant through the  Department of Energy’s Carbon Capture Demonstration Projects Program.

Closing on financing and the notice to move forward with construction of Project Tundra are expected in early 2024. The project remains subject to closing on financing and a final investment decision by each of the project entities

In June, the co-op announced project agreements with TC Energy, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Kiewit.

TC Energy will lead commercialization activities, including qualifying for federal 45Q tax credits. Expanded incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are expected to further bring down the cost of CCS, providing $85 for every ton of captured CO2 through the 45Q tax credit, up from $50 a ton.

The project is expected use MHI’s CO2 capture technology “Advanced KM CDR Process” with new solvent “KS-21.” According to EPA filings, this process is similar to an amine-based solvent process but uses a proprietary solvent and is optimized for CO2 capture from a coal-fired generator’s flue gas.

MHI will collaborate on the CO2 capture facility with Kiewit, which will construct the project.