Live flue gas is being used for the commissioning process at the 1,555MW plant in Wales, and once complete the scheme will capture up to 50 tonnes of CO2 per day.
Kevin Nix, head of hard coal and gas UK at RWE generation, said: “This pilot plant at Aberthaw will provide invaluable data on the viability of capturing carbon at an industrial scale, and help RWE to better understand how this technology could be used to reduce carbon emissions at coal-fired power stations.”
The performance of the process will be assessed and the Environment Agency is working with RWE to monitor and evaluate the environmental aspects of carbon capture technology for coal-fired power stations.