The first year of operations at SaskPower’s carbon capture test facility (CCTF) at the Shand Power Station went relatively smoothly, which was good news for the facility’s tenant, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS).
The CCTF quietly celebrated the one-year anniversary of its grand opening on June 18. During the past year, MHPS has been testing out their ideas for carbon capture equipment and processes.
“We think it’s a tremendous step forward, not just for SaskPower and Mitsubishi Hitachi, but for the power business as a whole across the world,” said Howard Matthews, the vice-president of power production at SaskPower.
MHPS takes what Matthews called a “slipstream” of flue gas from the Shand Power Station, and they direct it into the CCTF. From there, Mitsubishi Hitachi tests out the carbon capture process in a real world setting.
“Mitsubishi Hitachi is a very large conglomerate, a very large company, involved in power stations around the world, and so it’s a real opportunity for SaskPower to partner up with a major organization like that, and be part of this groundbreaking, carbon-capture future,” said Matthews.
All of MHPS’s research at the test facility is proprietary, so Matthews couldn’t divulge whether MHPS has had breakthrough in carbon capture studies in the past year.
“With the number of coal-fired power stations around the world, they’d want to hang on to their proprietary information, and work with other utilities around the world,” said Matthews.
Mitsubishi Hitachi was allowed to be the first tenant at the CCTF because they partnered with SaskPower on the $70 million test facility. The company is expected to remain at the CCTF for another year to test out their processes, and then they will move on, and Matthews hopes their findings will contribute to carbon capture around the world.
“We’ve certainly been very pleased on our end, working in partnership with Mitsubishi Hitachi,” said Matthews. “We think it’s a very good opportunity for us to work with one of our key suppliers, and to promote carbon capture technology, really, on the world stage.”
Once MHPS leaves the test facility, SaskPower hopes another company will move in. Matthews said they are actively pursuing another occupant, but he couldn’t confirm whether they have reached an agreement with another user.
Jonathan Tremblay, the senior consultant for media relations and issues management with SaskPower, said that when people visit the carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at the nearby Boundary Dam Power Station, they will often head over to CCTF, because the CCTF is a good complement for the Boundary Dam project.
“It’s hard to tell what Mitsubishi Hitachi is doing, because they are analyzing data, and you just see (them working on) big equipment,” said Tremblay. “And we do give them the heads up, so there’s nothing proprietary flashing on the screens when we do a tour.”
Matthews said he looks forward to seeing more countries getting involved with carbon capture. As more come on board with the concept, the technology will get better developed, and the costs for future power plants and other projects will be reduced.
“It’s better for all of us, and the CCTF is an important part of that as well, encouraging large companies such as Mitsubishi Hitachi to develop their technologies in a market worldwide,” said Matthews.
Tremblay noted the CCTF has operated without issue during the past year whenever it has been needed, and by all accounts MHPS has been happy with the plant.
The Shand CCTF is one of only a few test facilities for carbon capture technologies in the world. When it opened last year, the only other test facilities were in Australia and Norway, and they aren’t as large as the facility at Shand.
