April 3, 2024 - Electricity giant PacifiCorp is considering carbon capture retrofits to several Wyoming coal plants, despite previous concerns about the cost and viability of the technology.

The company’s Rocky Mountain Power subsidiary announced last week that it is teaming up with climate technology company 8 Rivers Capital and South Korean conglomerate SK Group to explore carbon capture at either its Wyodak coal plant near Gillette or the Dave Johnston coal plant near Glenrock. It’s also weighing an additional project on its coal-fired Jim Bridger power plant in the state.

The Wyodak power plant near Gillette, Wyoming, is pictured.

Photo: Mr. Satterly/Wikipedia

“The partnership and collaboration announced today is a major step forward in determining if carbon capture technologies can bring benefits to our customers in Wyoming at a reasonable cost,” said James Owen, Rocky Mountain Power’s vice president for environmental, fuels and mining, in a statement.

The moves put PacifiCorp — the largest power provider in Wyoming — in the race to build the second commercial-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) project on a U.S. coal plant.