$100 Million loan approved for Project Tundra

CENTER, N.D. (KFYR) - Minnkota Power Cooperative is taking the next step to bring an expensive carbon capture facility into reality.

Project Tundra is an effort at the Milton R. Young Station in Oliver County to capture more than 90 percent of the CO2 emission produced by the coal-based power plant and storing it underground.

Officials at Minnkota say they received approval from the North Dakota Industrial Commission for a $100 million loan for the project. Now, the company says it will focus on raising money to cover the $1.45 billion price tag, which it says will primarily come from federal 45Q tax credits. These are special tax credits for carbon sequestration.

Project Tundra is several years in the making, but researchers believe it will be the largest carbon dioxide capture project in the world if it’s completed.