SwRI teaming with GTI to demonstrate supercritical CO2 power plant

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is part of a team awarded $80 million from DOE to design, build, and operate a pilot plant to demonstrate supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power cycles. The facility is expected to advance this promising technology as part of DOE's Supercritical Transformational Electric Power (STEP) program, aimed at meeting national climate and energy goals by providing cleaner, more affordable power sources.

The 10 MWe (megawatt electric) pilot power plant will be located at SwRI's headquarters in San Antonio and tie into the power grid.

"Southwest Research Institute has been conducting research that supports the energy sector for nearly 70 years," said SwRI President Adam L. Hamilton, P.E. "We are proud to be part of a project that will demonstrate the world's first large-scale sCO2 power plant."

Turbomachinery power cycles using sCO2 can reach higher thermal efficiencies than conventional techniques, making the technology an attractive alternative for power generation.

The Gas Technology Institute (GTI) will lead the six-year project, and provide system engineering and test management; GE Global Research will be responsible for turbomachinery design and fabrication. In addition to hosting the pilot plant, SwRI will be responsible for the test facility design, implementation, and operation as well as turbomachinery evaluation. Additional project support will be provided by original equipment manufacturers, international research and development organizations, universities, and power system utilities.