KNOXVILLE, TN – The Tennessee Valley Authority announced Thursday that it will work with TC Energy to jointly invest $1.25 million to study carbon capture technology to reduce emissions at TVA’s natural gas facilities in Ackerman, Mississippi, and in Drakesboro, Kentucky.
TVA is exploring a number of options to decarbonize its power grid, and the goal of the partnership is to conduct a feasibility study to determine the costs, technical challenges, and operational impacts of carbon capture technology. Information from this study will be used to assess future asset decisions for the TVA fleet.
“TVA is a clean energy leader, and we are focused on reducing carbon emissions in an efficient and cost-effective manner,” said Dr. Joe Hoagland, TVA Innovation Research vice president. “Exploring all available technologies to eliminate carbon will allow us to move faster as we work to be net-zero by 2050.”
Carbon capture works by sending the exhaust from natural gas power facilities to a CO2 scrubber adjacent to the plant. A chemical reaction absorbs the CO2 before the exhaust is released into the air. The CO2 is then pumped to another vessel and treated with heat that releases the CO2. This released CO2 is compressed and sent deep into the earth for safe storage.
“This public-private partnership is made possible by a shared vision of safely moving toward a reliable and sustainable low-carbon future,” said Omar Khayum, TC Energy vice president of Energy Origination and Development. “We are excited to work with TVA to evaluate solutions that will lower the carbon intensity of reliable, baseload natural gas power facilities.”
Media Release/Scott Fiedler, Chattanooga, 423-751-7883/TVA Public Relations
