Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) announced that Black Hills Energy (BHE) has selected its BrightLoop H₂ generation technology for the feasibility study of a proposed project to produce clean H₂ from coal and capture carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions at BHE’s Neil Simpson Power Plant in Gillette, Wyoming. BrightLoop is a novel chemical looping technology that can use a variety of fuels to produce clean energy with complete CO₂ capture.

BHE will partner with B&W to study the cost and economics of deploying the BrightLoop chemical looping technology at commercial scale to produce low carbon intensity H₂ gas from Powder River Basin (PRB) coal and a nearly pure stream of CO₂ suitable for beneficial use or storage without the need for expensive carbon separation equipment.

“As the U.S. and much of the world transitions to near-zero emissions fuels, our BrightLoop technology – which captures CO₂ and other pollutants while producing H₂–can provide a vital pathway to utilize our abundant natural resource of coal in a net-zero world,” said B&W Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jimmy Morgan.

“We are excited to utilize our highly experienced U.S. engineering team to work with BHE to develop a solution that will help them achieve their goals of creating and preserving jobs, diversifying Wyoming’s energy production and establishing new markets for the state’s natural resources,” Morgan said. “We thank BHE for this opportunity and for the confidence they have shown in B&W’s BrightLoop technology.”

Mark Stege, Black Hills Energy’s Vice President of Wyoming Operations agreed, added, “Over 30 years of research has led us to this opportunity to unite clean energy technology with Wyoming’s important and abundant energy resources. We appreciate the partnership with B&W and the prospect of leveraging innovative H₂ technology to deliver efficient energy to customers.”

B&W’s BrightLoop chemical looping technology is part of its ClimateBright suite of decarbonization and H₂ technologies. The BrightLoop process uses a proprietary, regenerable particle and has been demonstrated to effectively separate CO₂ while producing H₂, steam and/or syngas.