February 02, 2024

Congressman Morgan McGarvey Announces $72 Million from Department of Energy to Reduce CO2 Emissions

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 02, 2024) – Today, Congressman Morgan McGarvey (KY-03) announced the Department of Energy has awarded $72 million to the Cane Run Generating Station as part of the Carbon Capture Large-Scale Pilots project. This project is funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and aims to significantly reduce CO2 emissions from electricity generation and hard-to-abate industrial operations. Congressman McGarvey has currently secured $587,831,658 in federal funding for Kentucky’s Third Congressional District during his first term in Congress.

“This is huge news for Louisville and our planet! Working with the Department of Energy, we are directing $72 million in federal funding to improve air quality at LG&E’s Cane Run Road facility,” said Rep. McGarvey. “The project will reduce carbon emissions using technology developed right at home at the University of Kentucky, and it will create up to 100 new union jobs. This is another example of how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — passed by President Biden and Congressional Democrats — is bringing good jobs, innovation, and climate resiliency to communities across our country. As DOE, LG&E, and UK move forward with the planning for this project, considering local health and justice is crucial; I’m looking forward to seeing community members and stakeholders engaged and consulted throughout the duration of this project. It’s an honor to help bring these federal dollars to Louisville, and I’ll keep working in Congress to support green energy projects being built in our community.”

“We are excited to help advance meaningful clean energy research in Kentucky and very much appreciate Congressman McGarvey’s efforts in helping LG&E and KU obtain our largest grant ever,” said LG&E and KU President John R. Crockett III.

More information on the Carbon Capture Pilot at Cane Run Generating Station is below:

  • This pilot project, led by PPL Corporation, will deploy a carbon capture system at Unit 7 of the Louisville Gas & Electric (LG&E, a PPL Company) Cane Run Generating Station, a natural gas combined-cycle power plant in Louisville, Kentucky. 

  • The Carbon Capture Pilot at Cane Run Generating Station expects to capture 95% of the CO2 from the unit’s flue gas using an advanced heat-integrated CO2 capture technology developed by the University of Kentucky.   

  • This technology aims to capture up to 90,000 metric tons of CO2 per year – an amount equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions of 20,000 gasoline-powered cars.  

  • Natural gas-fired power plants in the United States currently produce more than 1.7 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions each year.  

  • The goal of the project is to de-risk this new CO2 capture technology to enable its replication at other natural gas combined-cycle power plants.  

  • This project builds on concurrent DOE carbon capture research and development into the UK solvent-agnostic process through the DOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. 

 

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