Carbon Capture Technology Successfully Deployed at Coal-fired Power Plant

Through the successful launch of this project, MHI seeks to successfully commercialize CO2 capture, transport, and sequestration technology for coal-fired power plants. This represents an important step in MHI's effort to mitigate problems associated with pollution and climate change through the implementation of clean coal technologies.

This facility utilizes the KM CDR Process® capture technology, jointly developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. The Environmental Systems Division of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc. (MHIA), based in Austin, Texas USA, is the licensor of the MHI technology for the market in the USA and conducted the engineering and procurement for the project.

Built in collaboration with Southern Company, construction of the facility in Alabama commenced in May, 2009. Upon completion, it became the world's largest carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) facility attached to a coal-fired power plant using a proven capture technology. It will capture approximately 150,000 tons of CO2 annually (500 tons/day) at a successful CO2 capture rate of over 90%. The CO2 will then be permanently stored underground in a deep saline geologic formation.

While CO2 capture technology has already been commercialized for natural gas-fired facilities, coal-fired CO2 capture presents unique technological challenges. This facility is the world's first large-scale coal-fired CO2 capture facility.

The facility consists of a flue gas scrubber, CO2 capture and utilization technology, CO2 compression machinery, and electrical components, among other features. MHI's role in the project includes licensing the KM CDR Process® technology, project engineering, provision of core components, and technical support of operations.

MHI's KM CDR Process® technology uses an advanced solvent called KS-1 to capture the CO2 from a flue gas stack. The flue gas is directed to the KM CDR Process® where the KS-1 solvent reacts with and captures the CO2. CO2 can then be separated from the KS-1 and compressed for pipeline transport. Compared with other CO2 capture technologies, the KM CDR Process® uses significantly less energy.

Southern Company is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, with over 42 GW of generating capacity, serving over 4.4 million customers in the southeastern United States.

The project is an initiative associated with the U.S. Department of Energy's Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership Phase III program. Captured CO2 will be supplied to the Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership for injection underground. The CO2 will remain underground, permanently trapped in the geologic formation.

MHI has received orders for ten natural gas-fired CO2 capture facilities, with eight of the facilities currently in operation, representing a world-class CO2 capture lineup. In contrast, while coal-fired CO2 capture facilities are currently at the commercial feasibility testing stage, since 2006 MHI has partnered with Japan's Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE) in demonstrating a 10 ton/day scale coal-fired CO2 capture facility. With the experience gained from stable, continuous operations of a CO2 capture facility in Japan, along with the know-how gained from the CO2 capture project in the United States, MHI intends to verify the economic feasibility and reliability of coal-fired CO2 capture.

Note:

The KM CDR Process is a registered trademark of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., in Japan, the United States of America, the European Union (CTM), Norway, Australia, and China