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The Great Plains Synfuels Plant in Beulah, North Dakota produces synthetic natural gas from lignite coal.
CO2 from the process is captured and sent to the Weyburn oil field in Saskatchewan, Canada for enhanced oil recovery.
The project was initially put into motion by Michigan-Wisconsin Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of American Natural Resources. Total cost for design and construction of the plant was roughly $2 billion. Construction began in 1981.
The plant began operation in 1984. DOE purchased the plant for $1 billion in 1986. DOE sold the plant in 1988 to Basin Electric Power Cooperative, which has operated the facility through its Dakota Gasification Company subsidiary since.
In 2021, Bakken Energy agreed to purchase the assets of the Dakota Gasification Company, including the Great Plains Synfuels Plant, and entered into a strategic partnership with Mitsubishi Power Americas to turn it into the Heartland Hydrogen Hub, a clean hydrogen hub producing 310 Ktonnes/yr of blue hydrogen.
In January 2023, local news outlets reported that Basin and Bakken Energy had “ceased negotiations” over the sale.