About Us
 |
|
Dakota Gasification Company, a for-profit subsidiary of Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Bismarck, ND, owns and operates the Great Plains Synfuels Plant, a coal gasification complex near Beulah, ND. The Synfuels Plant produces pipeline-quality synthetic natural gas and related products. |
American dream on the North Dakota prairie
Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin Electric), through its for-profit subsidiary, Dakota Gasification Company (Dakota Gas), owns and operates the Great Plains Synfuels Plant (Synfuels Plant). The Synfuels Plant is the only commercial-scale coal gasification plant in the United States that manufactures natural gas. It is also the cleanest energy plant operating in the state of North Dakota, according to a comparison of emissions data available from the North Dakota Department of Health.
- Average daily production of natural gas is about 153 million cubic feet, the majority of which is piped to Ventura, IA, for distribution in the eastern United States.
- The Synfuels Plant supplies carbon dioxide to the world’s largest carbon capture and storage project in the world in Saskatchewan, Canada. About 3 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) are sequestered annually.
The $2.1-billion plant began operating in 1984. Using Lurgi gasifiers, the Synfuels Plant gasifies lignite coal to produce valuable gases and liquids. Located five miles northwest of Beulah, ND, the Synfuels Plant has been owned and operated by Dakota Gas since 1988.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage
Dakota Gas captures and sells CO2 produced at the plant to two customers and transports it through a 205-mile pipeline to Saskatchewan, Canada, to be used for enhanced oil recovery in the Weyburn and Midale fields. The first CO2 was sent to Canada in October 2000.
- Today, Dakota Gas exports about 152 million cubic feet per day of CO2 to Canada – about 50 percent of the CO2 produced when running at full rates.
- As of Dec. 31, 2008, Dakota Gas has successfully captured more than 16 million tons of CO2 for delivery.
CO2 from other power plants is very wet and diluted with nitrogen and oxygen and requires further processing, but Dakota Gas' process results in a CO2 stream that is very dry and 96 percent pure, so no additional processing is needed.
Dakota Gas shares natural gas sales revenue with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through an agreement established in 1988 when Dakota Gas purchased the plant from the DOE. In 2008, Dakota Gas paid an estimated $58.2 million in revenue sharing to the DOE. The total amount paid to the DOE as of Dec. 31, 2008 is approximately $380.8 million since the sale of the plant to Basin Electric. The U.S. government has now recovered more than $1.1 billion of its investment through revenue sharing and foregone production tax credits of $754 million. .
The Synfuels Plant's unique gasification operations and CO2 capture and transport continue to draw worldwide attention. Visitors from Germany, China, Italy, Korea, Great Britain and Japan, the United States and other nations have toured our facilities. National media from 60 Minutes, The History Channel, and Fox News, and television reporters from London, Tokyo, and Montreal have produced reports and special programs about the plant.
Media Contacts
Floyd Robb
Vice President
Communications & Marketing Support
Tel: 701.223.0441
Daryl Hill
Media Relations Supervisor
Communications & Marketing Support
Tel: 701.223.044
Tours and plant-site Information
Joan Dietz, Communications Specialist
Communications & Marketing Support
Tel: 701.873.6667
Fax: 701.873.6404
Marketing, Sales & Customer Support
Chemical Products - Cresylic Acid, Naphtha, Phenol
Fertilizer Products - Anhydrous Ammonia, Ammonium Sulfate
Gas Products -Carbon Dioxide, Krypton/Xenon, Liquid Nitrogen
Steve Liebelt,
Marketing Manager
Phone: 701.221.4418
Toll Free: 888.342.3378
Fax: 701.221.4450
Health, Safety & Environmental
Dale Johnson, HS&E Manager
Tel: 701.873.6635
Human Resource Department
Deb Haga, Human Resources
Tel: 701.873.6896
Headquarters
1600 E. Interstate Ave.
PO Box 5540
Bismarck, ND 58506-5540 USA
Phone: 701.221.4400
Great Plains Synfuels Plant
420 County Road 26
Beulah, ND 58523-9400 USA
701.873.2100
A subsidiary of: