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Calpine, DOE enter cost share agreement for Houston carbon capture demonstration

The Baytown Decarbonization Project is designed to capture 95% of CO2 emissions from two of the three turbines at the company’s Baytown Energy Facility.
Calpine, DOE enter cost share agreement for Houston carbon capture demonstration
Baytown Energy Center (Credit: Calpine)

Calpine announced that it has executed a cost share agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) for a full-scale carbon capture demonstration project at its Baytown Energy Center near Houston.

The Baytown Decarbonization Project is designed to capture 95% of CO2 emissions from two of the three turbines at the company’s Baytown Energy Facility, enabling the facility to produce electricity as well as steam for collocated industrial use. Calpine will now begin the first phase of the DOE cooperative agreement, with other phases to follow upon successful completion of phase one and finalization of plans for subsequent phases.

“We are pleased to have reached another milestone in the development of our Baytown Decarbonization Project. This initial Phase 1 commitment by the DOE will support the engineering and design of the project, further our community engagement, and advance project planning,” said Caleb Stephenson, Calpine’s Executive Vice President of Commercial Operations.

“This marks an important step forward for the Baytown CCS Project,” added Stephenson. “While there remain many milestones ahead, this step demonstrates Calpine’s continued commitment to being a leader in the energy transition in general and in carbon capture technology in particular. Calpine looks forward to continuing its partnership with the DOE as we work toward decarbonization of facilities like the Baytown Energy Center, which will be a critical part of our energy infrastructure for the foreseeable future and play a key role in decarbonizing our nation’s industrial sector.” Stephenson said.

In addition to the company’s Baytown project, Calpine continues to advance its similarly sized Sutter Decarbonization Project in California, which is negotiating an agreement with OCED that will help advance that project as well.

“Calpine is grateful for the DOE’s commitment to working with Calpine to advance this important technology and believes that this a recognition of the quality and strength of Calpine’s CCS program,” said Stephenson.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) involves removing carbon dioxide, either from the source of pollution or from the air at large and storing it deep underground. In some instances, the CO2 is transported across states through pipelines and stored at facilities and used for other purposes.

The Biden Administration believes large-scale deployment of carbon capture, transportation, and storage infrastructure could play a vital role in reducing emissions and has increased pressure on the CCS industry to show that the technology can significantly help combat climate change.

Proponents say CCS could have a huge role in reducing emissions, while environmentalists note the technology is far from scale and argue that focusing on it distracts from renewable energy solutions.

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