United States – Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) will collaborate with Kiewit Industrial to deliver Fidelis New Energy’s planned net-zero carbon impact biomass power plant at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge in Louisiana.

The 200-megawatt power plant will be the world’s largest of its kind.

Fidelis’ 73,000-barrel-per-day GrΓΆn Fuels facility, which will produce sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel, green hydrogen, and bio-plastic feedstock with a net-negative carbon dioxide (CO2) footprint, will be powered by Project Cyclus. According to a previously announced operating agreement between Capio and the State of Louisiana, Fidelis will sequester biogenic CO2 in a carbon sink developed and secured by its subsidiary Capio Sequestration.

B&W will support the development of the biomass-fueled plant by providing engineering, design, equipment, and technology services. The company’s B&W Renewable business segment will design and supply a 200-megawatt electric biomass-fueled bubbling fluidized bed (BFB) boiler, while its B&W Environmental business segment will provide its OxyBright oxy-combustion technology to isolate and capture CO2 for long-term sequestration, as well as a full suite of environmental technologies to control other emissions such as nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides, particulate, and volatile organic compounds. The plant will use these technologies to generate clean energy with a carbon footprint of less than two million tons per year.

OxyBright process

The company’s ClimateBright suite of decarbonization and hydrogen technologies includes B&W’s OxyBright technology. This oxy-combustion process can be used with a wide range of fuels to produce a concentrated stream of CO2 ready for sequestration or beneficial use. The OxyBright process will be used in the Cyclus project, with biomass fuel – such as wood chips, wood waste, bagasse, or other opportunity fuels – and captured CO2 being sequestered underground.

The BFB boilers from B&W are well-suited for use with the oxy-combustion process and are designed to run on a variety of fuels, either separately or in combination. The ability to use a variety of fuel sources and types gives owners the freedom to take advantage of opportunity fuels while keeping fuel costs under control.