The University of Wyoming will conduct a feasibility study to develop a saline CO2 storage hub for industries in the Echo Springs area of south-central Wyoming.

The feasibility study is predicted to last 2 years and it is in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and Williams Companies, which operates the Echo Springs natural gas processing plant south of Wamsutter as well as an interstate pipeline network.

Williams would capture CO2 from the Echo Springs gas plant.

The project was selected for CarbonSAFE Phase II: Storage Complex Feasibility and will perform technical, economic, and community assessments for potential CO2 storage complexes. It received eeceive up to $11.2 million in federal support.

The project is among 16 projects selected by the U.S. Department of Energy in November 2023 to receive over $444 million. The 16 projects were selected for negotiation to support the development of new and expanded large-scale, commercial carbon storage projects, each with the capacity to securely store 50 or more million metric tons of carbon dioxide over a 30-year period.

In January 2024, the project received $975,000 in funding by the Wyoming Energy Authority for the feasibility study.