CO2 Capture and Sequestration

[johnlw]

HTC deal should benefit U of R projects

Bruce Johnstone
Leader-Post

Thursday, September 04, 2008

A Regina-based company has signed a licensing agreement with a Korean boiler manufacturer that will make carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology developed at the University of Regina commercially available to the world power generation market.

The deal, signed Wednesday in Seoul, will also see Doosan Babcock Energy of the U.K. and Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction of South Korea invest $10 million for a 15-per-cent stake in HTC Purenergy.

HTC president and CEO Lionel Kambeitz, who signed the agreement on behalf of the company, said Doosan expects to spend another $10 million to further its own research into CCS technology.

"We're very enthusiastic about the $10-million investment they are making in our company. They are also going to be investing additional money over and above the $10 million ... to improve (CCS) technology," Kambeitz said in a telephone interview from Seoul.

"It allows us to continue to invest in next-generation technology and maintain the technical advantage we think the U of R technology has,'' he said.

The agreement gives Doosan Babcock and Doosan Heavy the right to use CCS technology developed at the U of R's International Test Centre for Carbon Capture through Doosan's 20 commercial offices around the world.

The U of R is considered one of the leading institutions in the area of carbon capture and storage research and applied CCS technology for the power generation industry.

"They build the CCS systems. Upon building them, they then pay a royalty to ourselves and the U of R," he said.

"So it's a 25-year licensing agreement and we're really pleased with what it's going to do for the company and the university. It's pretty exciting times for us.''

Doosan Babcock Energy is one of the largest boiler manufacturers in the world, serving the thermal power, nuclear, and oil and gas and petrochemical industries. Doosan Babcock, which is headquartered in the U.K., has 5,000 employees,

It's parent company, Doosan Heavy Industries, based in South Korea, has 10,000 employees and has completed power projects with more than 150,000 megawatts of installed capacity worldwide.

The $10-million investment also gives Doosan a seat on HTC's board of directors.

But Kambeitz stressed that HTC's local partners, Pinnacle Industrial Services of Regina and NuVision Services of Carseland, Alta., will be able to build smaller-scale CCS systems for the North American market.
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008