US Department of Energy Selects NRG for Post-Combustion Carbon Capture Demonstration Project in Texas
Princeton, NJ, NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) has been selected by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) to receive up to $154 million, including funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to build a post-combustion carbon capture demonstration unit at NRG’s WA Parish plant southwest of Houston. The proposed project was submitted under the Clean Coal Power Initiative Program (CCPI), a cost-shared collaboration between the federal government and private industry to demonstrate low-emission carbon capture and storage technologies in advanced coal-based, power generation. The goal of CCPI is to accelerate the readiness of advanced coal technologies for commercial deployment, ensuring that the United States has clean, reliable, and affordable electricity and power.
“The DOE recognizes the need to put a high priority on funding clean coal projects in order to substantially reduce the carbon intensity of existing fossil fueled electricity production,” said David Crane, President and CEO of NRG Energy. “Development and deployment of these carbon capture technologies at scale, not only in the United States but also worldwide as well, is essential if we are to meet successfully the challenge of global climate change. We’re excited about working with the DOE on this important project.”
Scheduled to begin operating in 2013, NRG’s carbon capture demonstration project at WA Parish will be among the first of its kind. It will use Fluor Corporation’s (NYSE: FLR) advanced Econamine FG Plussm technology to process flue gas from the plant equal in quantity to that of a 60 megawatt unit. It will be designed to capture 90% of incoming CO2, or approximately 400,000 metric tons of CO2 annually—a level that can further advance the technology’s viability on a larger scale. Once captured, the CO2 will be compressed and used in enhanced oilfield recovery operations.
Carbon capture technology is part of NRG’s clean energy portfolio that includes nuclear, onshore wind, offshore wind and solar that will help the Company meet future energy production and environmental sustainability goals.
About NRG
NRG Energy, Inc., a Fortune 500 company and member of the S&P 500, owns and operates one of the country’s largest and most diverse power generation portfolios. Headquartered in Princeton, NJ, the Company’s power plants provide more than 24,000 megawatts of generation capacity—enough to supply more than 20 million homes. NRG’s retail business, Reliant Energy, serves more than 1.6 million residential, business, commercial and industrial customers in Texas. A past recipient of the energy industry’s highest honors—Platts Industry Leadership and Energy Company of the Year awards, NRG is a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a group of business and environmental organizations calling for mandatory legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. More information is available at www.nrgenergy.com.
Safe Harbor Disclosure
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions and include NRG’s expectations regarding the post-combustion carbon capture demonstration unit at NRG’s WA Parish plant and forward-looking statements typically can be identified by the use of words such as “will,” “expect,” “believe,” and similar terms. Although NRG believes that its expectations are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to have been correct, and actual results may vary materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated above include, among others, general economic conditions, hazards customary in the power industry, competition in wholesale power markets, the volatility of energy and fuel prices, failure of customers to perform under contracts, changes in the wholesale power markets, changes in government regulation of markets and of environmental emissions, unanticipated outages at our generation facilities, the inability to implement value enhancing improvements to plant operations and companywide processes, and our ability to achieve the expected benefits and timing of our RepoweringNRG projects.
NRG undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The foregoing review of factors that could cause NRG’s actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in the forward-looking statements included in this news release should be considered in connection with information regarding risks and uncertainties that may affect NRG’s future results included in NRG’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.
For More Information Contact
NRG Energy, Inc. Media Contacts:
Meredith Moore
609-524-4522
David Knox
713-795-6106
Lori Neuman
609-524-4525
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NRG Energy, Inc. Investor Contacts:
Nahla Azmy
609-524-4526
David Klein
609-524-4527
Erin Gilli
609-524-4528
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