The University of Wyoming announced that after a decade, its CarbonSAFE Project has concluded. The CarbonSAFE Project, which stands for Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise, was one of 13 carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) project sites in the US that were primarily funded by the US Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory.
The project was hosted by Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s Dry Fork Station near Gillette, Wyoming. After successful completion of the project’s Phase III, it was determined there is technical feasibility and enough storage capacity in the Powder River Basin for a commercial-scale CCUS operation.
According to the university, other achievements of the project include drilling two test wells at depths below 9,800 ft, detailed geologic modeling and reservoir characterization, a successful National Environmental Policy Act analysis, a CO2 transportation FEED study, a robust baseline monitoring and risk assessment system, multiple publications, and 10 Underground Injection Control Class VI permits.
“This project has been, and will remain, an essential roadmap for future efforts,” said Dan Eakin, a senior research professional at UW's School of Energy Resources and principal investigator on the project. “It enabled us to identify and address core challenges in carbon management, resulting in the development of best practices that can be applied elsewhere. Furthermore, it established a key platform for CCUS education, successfully training a skilled workforce of students and professionals who are ready to deploy their expertise in an emerging industry.”
Now known as the Northern Powder River Basin Carbon Sequestration Hub, the site is prepared for immediate use in either commercial injection or as research wells to further advance the understanding of CCUS.