Carbon capture and storage project awarded $38 million

Editor’s note: The following is a press release from the Energy & Environmental Research Center. The original release can be viewed on the EERC’s website.

Grand Forks, N.D. – The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota (UND) was awarded $38 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project.

The project, “Coal Creek Carbon Capture: Site Characterization and Permitting,” is in partnership with Rainbow Energy Center and Neset Consulting Service, Inc. The project aims to characterize and permit a geologic carbon dioxide storage hub in central North Dakota to store up to 200 million metric tons of CO₂, which would contribute 10% of the 2 billion metric ton CO₂ storage capacity goal of the DOE’s CarbonSAFE Initiative Program. The proposed storage hub would store CO₂ from the Coal Creek Station power plant and the Blue Flint Ethanol plant. Implementing carbon capture and storage at Coal Creek Station would reduce 95% of the CO₂ emissions from the plant, which represents a 19% reduction of CO₂ from North Dakota’s stationary sources. Project partners will work with community members in the process to gain input and provide information on project goals.

“This funding continues our decades-long work in CCS,” says EERC CEO Charles Gorecki. “North Dakota is uniquely ideal for CCS projects—we have the right geology and regulatory framework to capture and store CO₂ safely and permanently. With these technologies, we don’t have to choose between reliable and clean energy.”

Work on this 3-year project begins in the fall of 2023.