U.S. Department of Energy Awards EIO $16M Phase II follow-on project. EIO as the prime contractor with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is now undertaking the Phase II portion of the U.S. Advance UltraSuperCritical program's component test program. This Phase will construct full scale assemblies, castings, forging and valves that will be used in next generation a-dvanced power generation systems. Though primarily to be used in high temperature and high pressure applications, these components will demonstrate the fabricability of the materials developed during earlier phases to put the U.S. at the forefront of other national programs for High Efficiency Low Emission (HELE) technologies. The goal is to use these materials for more efficient energy production and to aid with energy independence.
Besides offering advantages for transitioning U.S. coal based systems for reducing CO2 emissions these materials offer benefits for use in solar, nuclear and other power generation scenarios. As a spin off benefit, a domestic supply chain leading the world for making components from these advanced materials will be established to include a number of Ohio firms being qualified for future applications with both domestic and export opportunities.
This phase of the AUSC program is estimated to be finished by late 2021 as all precompetitive efforts will have been completed. It will end a twenty year, $100million development project led by Energy Industries of Ohio that included participation by all US boiler and turbine manufacturers, key utility companies, the Electric Power Research Institute, and a number of suppliers who co funded the effort along with the Ohio Coal Development Office and the U.S. Department of Energy. This program's coordinated and shared research has enabled the project's partners to develop cutting edge technology and vast intellectual property that looks to benefit the United States.