Issued on: February 3, 2009
DOE Receives $57.2 Million in Revenue Sharing Agreement
Synfuels Plant Supplies CO2 for World’s Largest Carbon Capture Project
Washington, D.C. — The U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) has received a payment of $57.2 million from the Dakota Gasification Company (DGC), a subsidiary of Basin Electric Power Generation, pursuant to the revenue sharing provision of an Asset Purchase Agreement among DOE, DGC and Basin. The current payment of $57.2 million brings the total to $380 million of revenue sharing payments DOE has received from the sale of synthetic natural gas produced from the Great Plains Synfuels Plant. The Great Plains Synfuels Plant has been successfully operated for more than 20 years and has brought significant opportunities to study and benefit from the technology and experience of operating a commercial-scale coal gasification facility. Dakota Gasification Company purchased the plant from DOE in 1988 and agreed to share revenues with the Department through 2009.
The Great Plains Synfuels Plant is the only commercial-scale coal-to-natural gas gasification plant in the United States, and home to the largest carbon capture project in the world. More than three million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) are captured annually and piped to Canada for use in enhanced oil recovery. Since 2000, CO2 from the plant has been transported via a 205-mile pipeline to the Weyburn Oil Field in southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada. In addition to significantly enhancing the oil recovery rate from the Williston Basin, the CO2 injection is part of the DOE and internationally funded Weyburn-Midale CO2 Project, which provides scientists from around the world a unique opportunity to study large scale CO2 injection and storage, and establish the framework to encourage CO2 geological storage on a worldwide basis.
Dakota Gasification Company is also a member of the Plains CO2 Reduction Partnership – one of seven Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships established by DOE.
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