PETRA NOVA CARBON CAPTURE PROJECT
TIC and consortium partner, MHI, were contracted by NRG Energy and their joint venture partner, JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration, to engineer, procure, and construct the Petra Nova Carbon Capture Project at NRG’s W. A. Parish coal-fired generating plant near Houston. When operational in late 2016, Petra Nova will be the world’s largest post-combustion carbon capture system, removing up to 1.6 million tons carbon per year. The captured gas will be transported via pipeline to enhance recovery in a depleted oil field 80 miles away.
In this $480 million project, TIC and MHI are completing engineering, procurement, site work, civil work, piping, electrical and instrumentation, turnover, and completion scopes. Major installed equipment includes a 380 ft. tall CO2 absorber tower, a CO2 compressor, a 120 ft. tall flue gas quencher, regenerator, and the CO2 stripper tower.
The EPC project started in January 2014 and site work commenced in August 2014. By February 2016, construction was more than 75% complete, with engineering and procurement at 100%. At that milestone, after 19 months of construction, the project was trending ahead of schedule and under budget.
Petra Nova’s peak manpower of 400 was reached in December 2015. This project marked the first use of Manitowoc’s MLC650 VPC Max on a project site. With a lift capacity of 716 U.S. tons, the crane is easy to assemble and move, and features an automated balancing feature.