Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) and Black Hills Energy have received a $16m grant from the Wyoming Energy Authority to fund the development of a coal-to-hydrogen production facility with carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and sequestration.

Planned for Black Hills’ Neil Simpson Power Plant in Gillette, Wyoming, the “commercial-scale project” is hoped to support the US state’s efforts to utilise its energy resources.

The Wyoming Energy Authority grant will be used to fund the permitting, engineering and development activities of the facility.

The plant is intended to use B&W’s BrightLoop™ technology to produce 15 tonnes of hydrogen per day from coal while the CO2 emissions will be “sequestered or put to beneficial use.”

With the ability use a range of feedstocks including coal, biomass and waste fuels, the BrightLoop technology uses a chemical looping process to produce hydrogen. The system also isolates CO2 to enable storage and sequestration.

Brandy Johnson, Chief Technology Officer at B&W, said, “This project supports Wyoming’s efforts to utilise an abundant and affordable natural resource to produce clean energy, while showing the flexibility of B&W’s BrightLoop Technology.

By undertaking the project with Black Hills, Johnson said the companies would be “forging a new path” for Wyoming’s and the US’ “clean energy future.”

H2 View has reached out to B&W for confirmation on the planned plant’s CO2 capture volume and rate, as well as what the hydrogen produced from the facility will be used for. This story will be updated with any additional details.

Wyoming was previously involved in the unsuccessful Western Interstate Hydrogen Hub (WIH2) alongside Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.