NEWS

Capturing carbon at Colstrip discussed

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

HELENA — It could cost as much as $1.4 billion to capture carbon dioxide at the Colstrip power plant, which then could be converted into other uses and sold, U.S. Department of Energy officials those attending a meeting Wednesday convened by the governor were told.

Gov. Steve Bullock hosted DOE officials as they provided the preliminary findings of their analysis on carbon capture and enhanced oil recovery options for Colstrip Unit 3.

Also attending were several officials from the energy and coal industry and several others, including environmental advocates, sat in the audience.

“We need to be partners in our energy future,” Bullock told those gathered.

Changing market conditions for coal, new federal regulations and state laws under consideration to limit coal-fired power because of concerns over climate change have residents in the community of 2,300 concerned about Colstrip’s future.

It’s home to four coal-fired units that, combined, are the second-largest coal-fired plant in the West, and also the Rosebud Coal Mine, which supplies coal to the generating plant.

The southeastern Montana plant in 2014 emitted about 16.5 million tons of carbon dioxide — two-thirds of the state’s reported total, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The coal-fired power plant and the mine together employ 730 people.

Two of Colstrip’s four electricity-generating units will close by 2022 under a legal settlement reached last month between the plant’s owners and environmentalists.

Recently, Pennsylvania-based Talen Energy, which owns a share of the Colstrip plant and operates the facility, said its role as operator is not economically viable and the plant’s five owners will need a new manager by May 2018.

Colstrip Units 3 and 4 are owned by utilities in Washington and Oregon as well as South Dakota’s Northwestern Energy, which is the largest gas and electric utility in Montana.

Ownership of Units 1 and 2 is split evenly between Talen and Puget Sound Energy.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Angelos Kokkinos, director of the Office of Advanced Fossil Technology Systems for the DOE, said the carbon dioxide could be converted to methane and produce fertilizer.

He said there could be a point where Colstrip “becomes a chemical plant where power is a byproduct.”

“We’ve tried to focus on how to make money with this stuff,” said David Mohler, deputy assistant secretary for Clean Coal and Carbon Management.

Retrofits on the remaining two units would reduce emissions between 30 percent and 47 percent, at a cost of $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion, Kokkinos said.

Putting the captured carbon dioxide to use — by pumping the gas into underground crude oil reserves to boost production — would bring in revenues of $3 billion to $4.4 billion over 25 years, Kokkinos said.

The revenue figures are based on projected demands for carbon dioxide with oil selling for about $106 a barrel. That’s more than double the current price.

The figures also fail to account for increased operating expenses.

Colin Marshall, president of Cloud Peak Energy, which operates Montana’s largest coal mine, said it was encouraging to see federal energy officials identify a technology that would reduce emissions while retaining jobs.

But a spokesman for Bullock’s challenger, Bozeman businessman Greg Gianforte, said Wednesday’s presentation appeared to be “another desperate campaign stunt” from the governor.

“Ultimately, we need to block Obama’s (clean power plan) and other efforts to shut down Colstrip,” Gianforte spokesman Aaron Flint said. “We ought to be looking at all options, including carbon capture.”

The Department of Energy also analyzed potential emission reductions at Colstrip through improved plant efficiency and using natural gas or biomass as supplementary fuels.

Using natural gas would yield the greatest benefits, reducing emissions by 13 percent, according to Kokkinos. But that also would require a new pipeline to be built.

Improving plant efficiencies or using biomass fuels would result in at most a 3 percent drop in emissions, he said.

The DOE also chose the Montana meeting as an opportunity to unveil its white paper on carbon capture, use and storage.

David Foster, senior adviser on industrial and economic policy for the DOE, said carbon capture provides a key pathway to address urgent global need for clean energy.

He urged those in the room to have their voices heard in Washington, D.C., and build great awareness in both parties.

Foster said if the U.S. is the country that does it, “Think of the opportunity it gives us in the rest of the world.”

Sen. Duane Ankney, R-Colstrip, attended and said he was heartened by comments by the DOE.

“What was important to hear was you acknowledged the importance of the fossil fuel industry to provide power for the future,” he said.

“Do we need reliable power or is it like water where every other day we get power?” he asked.

Also addressing the group was Mark McCall, executive director of the DOE’s Loan Programs Office who explain various programs and funding that could be used in Montana projects. He said it could take six to nine months to get through the application process.

The stop in Montana was part of the DOE’s state outreach program, Mohler said. Officials said they have been invited to North Dakota as well.

People at the meeting were told the next step was to do an engineering analysis.

Bullock plans to set up a study group to look at the issue further.

Among those at the meeting was Anne Hedges of the Montana Environmental Information Center, a nonprofit environmental advocate.

She said she didn’t see a lot of enthusiasm from those in the room to spend money on capturing carbon and sequestration at Colstrip.

“It’s incredibly expensive and ultimately someone would have to pay for it,” Hedges said. “We are willing to look at proposals, seeing if they are viable.

“You do have to consider opportunity costs, what can you do with $1 billion?” she said. “I would argue we can do a lot.”

This story contains information from Staff Writer Phil Drake and Matthew Brown of the Associated Press.