CENTER – Project Tundra, a carbon capture, utilization and storage project in North Dakota, has been awarded $350 million by the U.S. Department of Energy, according to Sens. John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer.

Project Tundra, at the Milton R. Young Station near Center, is led by Minnkota Power Cooperative and partners TC Energy, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kiewit. The project is designed to capture up to 4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, which would then be stored in geologic formations, roughly a mile underground.

Construction is anticipated to begin in 2024, and the facility’s commercial operation is set to begin in 2028.

“Project Tundra is a vital component to the future of our coal-fired electric industry,” Hoeven said. “North Dakota has led the way in reducing SOx, NOx and mercury emissions, and now with Project Tundra, we’re leading the technology development of carbon capture and storage on a traditional coal-fired power plant. We started working on this in 2008 and are one of only two places in the country that can do it.”

Cramer called the announcement another major win from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

“Once Project Tundra is completed, it will be a major feather in the cap for North Dakota’s innovative energy system, keeping miners on the job while putting clean, reliable electricity on the grid,” he said.

The North Dakota Industrial Commission had approved a $150 million loan in July for the Minnkota project through the state’s Clean Sustainable Energy Authority. The loan will be furnished by the Bank of North Dakota and is in addition to a similar $100 million loan approved by the Industrial Commission in 2022. The Industrial Commission previously approved $15 million from the state’s Lignite Research Fund to help pay for front-end engineering and design for the CO2 capture project.

“The technology being developed for Minnkota’s project has the potential to be a game-changer for our state, the nation and the world by curbing emissions and ensuring that the reliable, affordable energy we’ve come to expect from coal continues to keep the lights on,” Gov. Doug Burgum said. “We’re grateful to the Department of Energy and North Dakota’s congressional delegation for supporting this promising technology, which will benefit consumers, the environment and the coal and oil industries that provide thousands of good-paying jobs and economic development resulting in billions of dollars in tax revenue to our state and local governments.”