DURHAM — 8 Rivers Capital, LLC, is partnering with The Southern Ute Indian Tribe Growth Fund (SUGF) to develop and build a zero-emissions NET Power natural gas-fired power plant on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation in Colorado in a project named the Coyote Clean Power Project.
In a joint statement, the organizations called the project paradigm-shifting, describing that the project will produce 280 megawatts of clean power every hour of every day while simultaneously capturing and storing carbon dioxide. The organizations expect the plant to be designed and completed within the next five years and production could begin in 2025.
“The Southern Ute Indian Tribe is excited to begin the partnership with 8 Rivers, adding a new clean energy project to our business portfolio. Although the Tribe has a rich and successful history as an energy producer in Indian Country, we have always prioritized the protection of our natural resources. This project further exemplifies our environmental stewardship,” said Tribe Vice Chairman Bruce Valdez.
NET Power technology produces no air pollution, can operate water neutral, and features the flexibility to pair with renewable energy sources, said 8 Rivers Capital in a statement. Those features allow a NET Power plant to operate using natural gas but without adding emissions to the Earth’s atmosphere, enabling a 100 percent clean electricity grid.
The future of electricity? Durham’s NET Power charges forward with zero emissions tech
To achieve this, NET Power burns natural gas with pure oxygen, not ambient air, and it uses carbon dioxide instead of steam as the working fluid for the turbine. That’s a radically different approach than a conventional fossil fuel plant generates electricity, said Walker Dimming, a principal at 8 Rivers Capital, in a 2018 interview with WRAL TechWire. The result is that this process, called the Allam-Fetvedt Cycle, is constructed with the intent and the ability to capture carbon dioxide, and in doing so, creates a more efficient system that allows the company to deploy pure oxygen while remaining economically competitive. The company’s process, said Dimming, yields “inherent carbon capture.”
The proposed project has the backing of Colorado Governor Jared Polis, who said in a statement that the administration stands ready to support the next steps of this project.
NET Power is co-owned by Exelon Generation, McDermott, 8 Rivers Capital, and Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV), a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, which invested in the company in 2018.
Durham’s NET Power lands investment from Occidental Petroleum subsidiary
