GE Gas Power was awarded $5.7 million from the US Department of Energy for a front-end engineering design study into carbon capture, utilisation, and storage applications for power generation.

The funding from the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management will be used for a study that intends to capture about 95% of carbon dioxide emissions and reach commercial deployment by 2030.

The study will be focused on the James M. Barry Electric Generating Plant, operated by Alabama Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company. The plant is powered by two GE 7F gas turbines, which is part of the largest gas turbine fleet in North America.

“We are committed to leading a more sustainable power industry that will provide the world with the affordable, reliable, and less carbon-intense electricity it needs today, while maintaining laser-focused on researching, developing, and demonstrating the technologies that will be required for the future,” said Scott Strazik, chief executive of GE Power.

GE plans for this FEED study to set a precedent for future CCUS projects on existing natural gas power plants.

GE will research how to integrate the combined cycle power plant with Linde’s Gen 2 carbon capture solution based on BASF OASE blue technology, while reducing the impact of the carbon capture process on the power plant’s output, performance, and equipment cost.