Teams in the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE competition will be able to use the CMC Research Institutes’ Carbon Capture and Conversion Institute (CCCI) in Canada under a partnership announced Thursday. “We are really excited to support of the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE process. CCCI, NRG, COSIA and XPRIZE are tackling one of the most critical challenges of our time – that of moving our planet to a low carbon future. The technologies being developed will play a role in making that future a reality,” said Richard Adamson, president of CMC Research Institutes, in a press release.
The $20 million NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE competition aims to convert carbon dioxide into useful products. It consists of two tracks: one testing developmental technologies on emissions from a coal-fired power plant and one on emissions from a natural gas-fired power plant. One grand prize winner will be selected from each track.
The competition has three rounds. Forty-seven teams participated in the first round, submitting a technical and business viability assessment of their project. A panel of judges reviewed the entries and selected the semifinalists in October.
Round two is underway. The teams will conduct pilot-scale demonstrations of their technologies in a controlled environment of their selection using simulated power plant flue gas. Twelve teams have qualified in the first track and 21 in the second. Six teams are competing in both tracks. No more than five teams from each track will in December 2017 proceed to round three; they would then split $2.5 million as an interim award.
The Carbon Capture and Conversion Institute will be involved in round three, which will continue through February 2020. This round will consist of a demonstration-scale competition, during which teams will have access to two test sites, CCCI and the Wyoming Integrated Test Center, and must prove their technologies using actual power plant flue gas. Following the close of round three, teams will be scored on CO2 conversion levels and the net value of their product. A grand prize winner in each track will be selected in March 2020, with each receiving $7.5 million.