A power plant in Filer City, west of Cadillac along the shore of Lake Michigan, will undergo a conversion from coal to sustainable biomass fuel using new green technology. An operational date has not been released.
Babcock and Wilcox in Akron, Ohio, has been awarded a contract by NorthStar Clean Energy in Texas to conduct a Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) engineering study to convert the coal-fire 75-megawatt TES Filer City Station power station in Filer City to use biomass fuel and retrofit the plant with Babcock and Wilcox’s SolveBright carbon dioxide (CO2) capture process.
The study is the first phase of a commercial-scale project partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Babcock and Wilcox will manage construction and the mechanical scope of the study and commercial phase.
The plant is jointly owned by NorthStar Clean Energy (a subsidiary of Jackson-based CMS Energy Corp.) and Houston-based Tondu Corp.
The CO2 generated by the plant would be captured using Babcock and Wilcox’s SolveBright post-combustion CO2 scrubbing process, which provides flexibility in the regenerable solvent used to isolate CO2 for sequestration or utilization, according to the company.
“BECCS projects hold tremendous potential in helping the world achieve a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” says Joe Buckler, senior vice president, clean energy for Babcock and Wilcox. “Capturing CO2 from biomass combustion allows a plant to generate energy and be a net-negative emitter of greenhouse gases. This in turn allows the plant owner to offset emissions from other sources such as through the sale and trade of carbon credits.”
For post-combustion carbon capture, Babcock and Wilcox offers pre-treatment technologies to clean the flue gas prior to carbon capture and the company’s SolveBright process that can be tailored to support the preferred solvent of our customers.
“NorthStar Clean Energy brings our expertise and creativity to help our clients reach their decarbonization and business goals quickly,” says Brian Hartmann, president of NorthStar Clean Energy. “The Filer City carbon capture project is a prime example of how we can use innovation to make that happen. We look forward to partnering with Babcock and Wilcox to showcase this technology’s potential in Michigan.”
Joe Tondu, president of Tondu Corp., says: “We have had a long and successful relationship with Babcock and Wilcox and are pleased to be working with them again on our ground-breaking Filer BECCS conversion.”
When the biomass and carbon capture conversion is complete, TES Filer City Station will be able to provide power to more than 70,000 homes while producing net-negative CO2 emissions.
