NET Power, developer of the novel Allam-Fetvedt supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power cycle, says its 50-MWth test facility in La Porte, Texas, delivered power to the grid overnight on Nov. 16. The achievement marks a major milestone for the potentially revolutionary technology for which several commercial power plants are already under development.
NET Power, a business venture held jointly by North Carolina-based 8 Rivers Capital and industry heavyweights Exelon, McDermott, and Occidental Low Carbon Ventures, has been quietly developing the Allam-Fetvedt Cycle (AFC) since 2012. It has sought to validate its many first-of-a-kind components at its La Porte test facility (Figure 1), but it marked its last substantial technology triumph in May 2018 when it achieved first fire of a novel commercial-scale 50-MWth combustor designed by Toshiba at the La Porte facility.
