![]() ![]() “Southern Company believes having a diversified energy portfolio is crucial to reducing emissions while maintaining reliability and affordability for our customers,” said Chris Womack, President and CEO at Atlanta-based Southern Company, which has a goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. So even as they develop renewables, producers must continue to innovate around conventional energy if they’re to guarantee competitively priced, dependable energy supplies on the road to net zero. The war in Ukraine threatens supply and inflation is driving up costs. At the same time, the industry is facing new challenges. But at present, these alternatives can’t supply all the power needed to support the U.S.’s growing economy. ![]() The energy industry is embracing the transition to renewables, investing billions to bring clean power sources online – including wind, solar and hydro. “There couldn't be a better time to be in R&D at Southern Company and specifically at the NCCC.Responsibly Green Why energy companies must continue to use all forms of energy during the transition to net zero. “I get to sit on the front row and participate in a lot of this research," says John. In addition to the NCCC, Southern Company is also building the new Vogtle nuclear units, exploring the molten chloride fast reactor with TerraPower, the hydrogen economy, storage, “ Tall Wind,” microgrids, EVs, and more. John says the R&D group turned 50 last year. Southern Company itself has found itself on the leading edge of new technologies. DOE recently announced a project to test Direct Air Capture at the NCCC. In addition to carbon capture from coal, the NCCC is also adding natural gas infrastructure for carbon capture and utilization research. "The goal is to provide enough testing time for the Developer to be able to confidently scale up from the tests that they've done at our facility," he says. John says the staff typically consult Developers on the best test criteria. These tests will typically begin with parametric testing and then move on to longer, steady-state tests. John says Developers will usually spend about 3 months at the Center and test for about 1,000 hours. Tests can range from component testing to fully integrated systems. ![]() "It's done on purpose to create the environment that you need to move these technologies forward," says John. In addition, any new intellectual property that comes out of these tests belongs to the Developer. "The stream that they would be getting would be fairly representative of the broader fleet across the country," he says.ĭevelopers, he says, get access to a support staff that provides onboarding, construction, operation, troubleshooting, data analysis, and demobilization. John says the flue gas provided to the Developers has already been scrubbed. After all, coal plants burn many grades of coal, and produce different CO 2 concentrations, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and particulates. There are multiple bays at the Center, so multiple tests can be going on at the same time. Guests, who John calls "Developers," get access to a "slip stream" of power plant exhaust, or flue gas. Since 2009, the NCCC has hosted over 60 technologies, and completed over 110,000 hours of testing. "These processes we test could really be applicable over a wide range of industrial applications, even outside of the power sector." John Northington, NCCC Director, says their mission isn't just coal-focused. As the name would suggest, their primary mission is to test carbon capture technologies-removing CO 2. The facility is primarily funded by the Department of Energy and operated by Southern Company. The Center is located next to an operational coal and natural gas power plant in Wilsonville, Alabama. My guest from Episode 81 also mentioned they were testing carbon utilization technologies, some of which have been tested at the NCCC. I first discussed the work they were doing with my Panelists at the NAYGN conference in Episode 65. I have been circling the National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC) for a while now. ![]()
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