The Department of Energy has awarded about $6.5 million to study the feasibility of adding carbon capture equipment to an aging coal plant in New Mexico less than two years after a nearby effort failed.
The Navajo Transitional Energy Co. — which owns a 7 percent interest in the Four Corners power plant — said the funding will be used to prepare an engineering and design study that examines the economic, community and environmental effects of the proposed retrofit project. DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations announced the award this month.
Environmental groups have pushed back on plans to install carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology at Four Corners, noting that three of its five coal-fired units are already retired while the remaining two are slated to be decommissioned by the end of 2031.
In an interview on Friday, David Schlissel, director of resource planning analysis at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), said he was not surprised to see the Navajo company receive DOE funding for a front-end engineering and design study.
