Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune The Intermountain Power Plant near Delta, Utah Friday April 12, 2013. The plant's owners in November 2022 rejected a New Mexico company's proposal to buy the coal-fired plant and install its carbon-capture technology.This story is part of The Salt Lake Tribune’s ongoing commitment to identify solutions to Utah’s biggest challenges through the work of the Innovation Lab.
Milind Deo, director the University of Utah's Energy and Geoscience Institute, says carbon capture should play a role in fighting climate change, but the cost is a limiting factor.In November, the Intermountain Power Authority board of directors rejected Enchant’s bid to buy the coal plant, which IPA plans to shut down in 2025 and replace with a cleaner natural gas- and hydrogen-fueled plant.
Enchant also last month ended its effort to buy the San Juan Generation Station, a coal-fired power plant in the Four Corners area that was shut down this year. Enchant wanted to install its carbon-capture technology and keep burning coal at the plant. from the coal plants’ exhaust. After the CO2 is captured, the process can be reversed to remove the CO2 and reuse the amines. The removed CO2 can then be stored underground or used in industrial processes. It is a mature technology that has been around since the 1950s.
The alliteration in this headline!