Integrated Test Center
The Wyoming ITC opened in May 2018, outside of Gillette, Wyoming. The center provides space for researchers to test Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration (CCUS) technologies using 20 MW of actual coal derived flue gas. Research at the facility will help support jobs, local and state economies and plays a key role in commercializing carbon management technologies to help the world achieve its carbon goals.
The State of Wyoming allocated $15 million for the construction and operation of the facility. An additional $5 million commitment from private industry was required under the appropriation, which was secured from the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association in addition to $1 million pledged from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Basin Electric Power Cooperative is providing the host site at their Dry Fork Station as well as many additional in-kind contributions including engineers and construction management services.
Along with testing capture technologies, researchers have tested utilization technologies taking flue gas and turning it into marketable products. Research conducted at the ITC has advanced new opportunities in petrochemicals as well as other commercial uses of carbon dioxide.
The ITC is one of a handful of such facilities around the world and only the second one in the United States with flue gas available for larger scale testing. While many carbon capture technologies are being developed and studied in laboratory settings, the ITC is one of the only research and testing facilities located at an operating generation facility. Laboratories cannot mimic the real-world conditions of a functioning coal-fired power plant which helps alleviates typical concerns over being able to scale technology from a lab to commercial operation.
The ITC is a public-private partnership managed by the State of Wyoming at the direction of Governor Mark Gordon.