STEP Demo’s turbomachinery is roughly one tenth the size of standard power plant turbomachinery—its desk-sized turbine can power 10,000 homes hourly. The STEP Demo facility is designed to address some specific technical challenges to commercialization of the promising sCO 2 technology.

March 7, 2023 — The Supercritical Transformational Electric Power (STEP) Demo pilot plant, a $155 million, 10-megawatt supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2) test facility at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, developed in collaboration with GTI Energy and GE Research and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has ...

The STEP Demo pilot plant is one of the largest demonstration facilities in the world for sCO 2 technology. Unlike conventional steam power plants, which use water as the thermal medium in power cycles, STEP uses high-temperature sCO 2 to increase efficiency by as much as 10% due to its favorable thermodynamic properties.

The mission of the Supercritical Transformational Electric Power (STEP) program is to design, build, and operate a 10 MWe pilot scale facility using an indirect-fired sCO 2 power cycle, demonstrate component performance and cycle operability over a range of operating conditions, and show progress towards a lower cost of electricity.

2023年11月8日 · 据外媒消息，美国西南研究院 (SwRI)、GTI Energy公司和GE Vernova (GE)公司于10月27日宣布由美国能源部资助的10MW“超临界变革性发电”（STEP）示范试点项目机械完工，该试验设施耗…

2023年10月27日 · Yesterday, GTI Energy and its partners, Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and GE Vernova, marked a significant leap forward in energy technology advancement with the opening of the Supercritical Transformational Electric Power …

2017年4月12日 · The 10 MWe pilot facility, known as the Supercritical Transformational Electric Power (STEP) facility, will be constructed at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) campus in San Antonio, Texas.

2019年11月5日 · This project is a significant step toward sCO 2 cycle based power generation commercialization and will inform the performance, operability, and scale-up to commercial facilities. Supercritical CO 2 (sCO 2) power cycles are Brayton cycles that utilize supercritical CO 2 working fluid to convert heat into power.

2021年9月16日 · The pilot facility is currently under construction at SwRI’s San Antonio, Texas, USA campus. Now well into Phase 2, a ground-breaking was held in October of 2018, and civil work and the construction of a dedicated 22,000 ft 2 building is complete.

January 22, 2024 — The Supercritical Transformational Electric Power (STEP) Demo pilot plant, a $169 million, 10-megawatt supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2) test facility at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, has achieved an industry first during commissioning by firing its natural gas heater and operating its turbine up to ...