NET Power Receives Grant from the UK Department of Energy and
Climate Change to Support Development of Breakthrough, Clean Power
Technology
DURHAM, North Carolina,
Nov. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- NET
Power today announced the receipt of a £4.9 million grant from the
UK Department of Energy and Climate Change as part of the Carbon
Capture and Sequestration (CCS) Innovation Program £20 Million
Competition. The grant will fund further R&D and manufacturing
of both developing and proven high-performance materials that
enable NET Power's novel, clean, low-cost power generation
technology to reach extremely high efficiencies.
NET Power, Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502), a world-class technology
manufacturer, Goodwin Steel Castings (LSE: GDWN), a global expert
in metallurgy and castings based in the UK, and The Shaw Group
(NYSE: SHAW), a leading engineering, procurement and construction
firm, will utilize these advanced materials in NET Power's 25MW
natural gas demonstration plant.
"Through this competition and the CCS Commercialisation
Programme, The Department of Energy and Climate Change is focused
on making CCS more affordable, and they recognize NET Power's
potential as a breakthrough technology," said NET Power CEO
Bill Brown. "Our step-out process
leaps over current CCS technologies by producing electricity that
generates zero atmospheric emissions and is less expensive than
cheap, carbon-emitting technologies. We are excited to work with
the UK government to commercialize this important technology."
NET Power's new fossil fuel-based power technology is low-cost
and highly efficient – on par with state-of-the-art natural gas
combined cycle plants. In addition to generating electricity at
strongly competitive costs, though, NET Power also eliminates all
atmospheric emissions, including CO2. To do this, NET Power
utilizes a novel, oxyfuel, high-pressure, supercritical carbon
dioxide thermodynamic cycle—named the Allam Cycle after lead
inventor Rodney Allam of Chippenham,
England. Mr. Allam was previously
the Director of Technology Development at Air Products and
Chemicals PLC. He was a lead author for the IPCC report on carbon
capture and storage and received the 2012 Global Energy Prize.
NET Power is different from typical carbon capture technologies,
which require the addition of new processes and equipment to
current power systems. Rather than use this approach, which results
in increased costs and reduced efficiency, NET Power developed a
new power generation technology that was designed from the ground
up to eliminate air emissions. The resulting system produces
low-cost electricity and a pipeline-ready CO2 byproduct that can be
sequestrated or used in enhanced oil recovery without requiring
additional expenses and processes.
"This announcement helps maintain the UK's place leading the
world in CCS, to deliver an affordable and secure low carbon energy
mix," said Energy and Climate Change Secretary Edward Davey. "Carbon Capture and Storage is a
huge opportunity for our world class research industry. The UK's
clear commitment to CCS is underlined by innovative companies like
NET Power and Toshiba's choosing British manufacturer Goodwin for
its world leading expertise."
Under the terms of the grant, Goodwin and Toshiba will further
develop and manufacture advanced materials to be used in the
turbine that Toshiba is developing for the NET Power process. These
materials will lead to improved NET Power cycle performance. The
DECC grant will directly create high-value R&D and
manufacturing jobs in the UK, and it will solidify Goodwin's
position as a global leader in advanced materials manufacturing.
NET Power and Shaw will support overall project engineering and
integration of the materials into the NET Power cycle. NET Power's
UK-based subsidiary, NET Power Europe, will administer the grant
and conduct other R&D in the UK.
NET Power's Allam Cycle is a flexible platform technology that
spans natural gas, coal, solar, nuclear, enhanced oil recovery and
liquefied natural gas applications, each of which will directly
address rising electricity costs while enabling aggressive
emissions reduction targets to be met. DECC's grant supports NET
Power to lay the foundation for a coal development program that
will result in lower-cost coal-fired power generation that
eliminates all atmospheric emissions of CO2, SOX, NOX and
particulates.
NET Power, Shaw, Toshiba, and Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC),
the leading U.S. competitive energy provider, have partnered to
develop a 25MW natural gas plant demonstrating NET Power's
technology; the plant is expected to begin operating in late 2014.
Construction of the first 250MW NET Power plant is expected to
begin in early 2015. In June 2012,
Shaw committed up to $50.4 million in
cash and in-kind services to the effort, subject to certain
milestones, acquiring up to 50% of NET Power LLC as those
milestones are completed.
NET Power LLC is a Durham,
N.C.-based company affiliated with 8 Rivers Capital LLC, the
inventor and early developer of the NET Power technology. For more
information, please visit NET Power's website at
www.NETPower.com.