Hitachi announces partnership with SaskPower on test facility for CO2 capture technology

ntttttttttttt

Hitachi Ltd has agreed to collaborate with Canada’s Saskatchewan Power Corp to jointly construct a Carbon Capture Test Facility (CCTF). The test facility will be a part of SaskPower’s larger Clean Coal Project, which is a comprehensive initiative to select and apply emerging carbon capture technologies to coal fired power plants to manage their emission of greenhouse gases.

In this project equipment to capture CO2 will be installed at SaskPower’s Shand Power Station (298MW), which is located near the city of Estevan, Saskatchewan. SaskPower and Hitachi will jointly invest 5 billion yen to cover the cost of the project. Operations of the CCTF will begin mid 2014.

While the demand for electric power is increasing in Canada, power companies are being required to implement countermeasures against global warming, including measures to suppress CO2 emissions, and to reinforce these initiatives, Canada is currently promoting the development of CCS (Carbon Capture & Storage) technology and the implementation of demonstration projects as a national strategy.

SaskPower, in line with this initiative, is currently constructing a world leading, large CO2 capture and storage demonstration project at the Boundary Dam Power Station. Hitachi was selected to supply the steam turbine and generator for this carbon capture and storage demonstration project and will build the crucial system that is needed to efficiently supply the steam required for the CO2 capture and storage equipment.

Hitachi began researching and developing technology to capture CO2 in the 1990s and since then, the company has conducted demonstration projects using its own research equipment as well as domestic and overseas pilot facilities. SaskPower’s experience in integrating CCS into commercial projects combined with Hitachi’s expertise in Carbon Capture Technology will contribute to a comprehensive evaluation and demonstration of the equipment’s overall reliability, economic feasibility, and the necessary properties to scale-up to a large, commercial-scale facility.