GE Vernova Selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to Lead Pre-Feasibility Assessment of Potential Direct Air Capture Regional Hub

GE Vernova's Advanced Research division located in Niskayuna, NY, has been chosen by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to take the lead in conducting a pre-feasibility evaluation for establishing a regional hub focused on direct air capture (DAC) near Houston, Texas. GE Vernova will engage in negotiations with the DOE to finalize the terms and scope of the study.

These negotiations constitute a component of the initial funding round announced under the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-backed Regional DAC Hubs program. Additionally, GE Vernova serves as a DAC technology provider for two other projects selected for negotiation of awards, to be spearheaded by the University of Illinois and implemented in Colorado and Florida.

In the context of GE Vernova's proposed investigation, researchers will examine the viability of an innovative DAC system design that integrates GE Hitachi's BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) and renewable electricity. This combination would enable the capture of CO2 from ambient air, which can then be stored underground or utilized as a valuable resource, such as a feedstock for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). The integration of heat and power from the 300 MWe BWRX-300 with the DAC system holds the potential to achieve the most cost-effective carbon removal. Successful implementation could result in the removal of 1 million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere annually, equivalent to the yearly emissions of approximately 200,000 average cars achieving 22 miles per gallon of gasoline.

Matt Guyette, Director of Advanced Research at GE Vernova, expressed, "We take pride in contributing to the ambitious plans of the Biden Administration to curtail CO2 emissions and fortify a crucial new energy sector centered on carbon capture. Our pre-feasibility study envisions leveraging our diverse array of energy generation assets and capabilities, a unique advantage of GE Vernova, including carbon-free nuclear power and renewable electricity, to develop a solution we believe will be cost-effective for removing millions of tons of CO2 from the air."

The other two projects selected for award negotiations, where GE Vernova will play a collaborative role, will be led by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. These initiatives seek to advance promising technologies capable of capturing CO2 from the atmosphere and sequestering it underground in Florida's Tuscaloosa Group and Colorado's Denver-Julesburg Basin. Both studies intend to foster cooperative partnerships between DAC technology providers, providers of green energy, networks for CO2 transportation, and entities interested in underground CO2 storage.

All stakeholders in the proposed DAC regional hub ventures are committed to advancing carbon capture technology while simultaneously delivering benefits to the community. These stakeholders will actively engage in communication with the community to establish comprehensive plans that outline the benefits for the project(s).

In March, GE announced the successful demonstration of a scalable prototype for direct air capture at its Niskayuna research facility. Guyette stated that GE Vernova's selection for these DOE award negotiations will expedite the company's aspiration to implement a commercially scalable DAC solution before the end of the decade.

"The insights gained and the immense potential of these DAC hub studies will undoubtedly amplify the momentum behind our plans to provide an economically viable and commercially scalable solution by 2030," Guyette affirmed. "We firmly believe that our leadership in materials science research, combined with our unparalleled ability to integrate a wide spectrum of energy assets from the broader GE Vernova portfolio, positions us favorably to be a major player in this emerging industry for many years to come."

Source:ge.com