Delegation Helps Dedicate State-of-the-Art Energy Facility
Press Release
Congressman Earl Pomeroy and Senators Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan joined state and local leaders today to dedicate a new state-of-the-art DryFining facility at North Dakota's largest power plant, Coal Creek Station.
"Here at Coal Creek Station you can see real progress on finding cleaner ways to use coal," Senator Conrad said. "Challenged to find new ways to lower emissions, researchers and engineers at Great River Energy developed an innovative technology to increase lignite's energy and efficiency while at the same time significantly reducing emissions. This is technology that will have implications on North Dakota and our nation, and can be utilized on a global scale."
"Congratulations to Great River Energy on the development of its unique DryFining lignite coal drying technology," Senator Dorgan said. "This is a very important milestone for GRE and the lignite industry in North Dakota. GRE has built on the successful public-private technology demonstration, which I supported. It shows another way to utilize coal in a cleaner, more efficient way."
"Today is a big day for Great River Energy. This new technology will help burn our North Dakota coal more cleanly and efficiently, and that's good for our energy industry and the jobs it supports," Congressman Pomeroy said. "This new technology is another example of the dynamism and innovation that is a trademark of Great River Energy, and I congratulate them on this new breakthrough."
DryFining is a new fuel enhancement technology that refines lignite coal through a drying and separation process. Softer coals, such as lignite, naturally have a higher water content than other types of coal. Reducing the amount of water in the coal through a drying process increases the coal's overall power and efficiency.
Great River Energy developed the DryFining technology in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy. Federal funding was first provided to partner with GRE through the Clean Coal Power Initiative Round I in 2004. It is now bringing this revolutionary technology to the global marketplace and helping to develop cleaner and more efficient power plants around the world.
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