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CENTER, ND – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee member, participated in a tour of the Project Tundra test well with Senator John Hoeven and Representative Kelly Armstrong today, where he highlighted the great potential of this project and emphasized the importance of producing reliable energy in America. This follows the coal producer roundtable Senators Cramer and Hoeven hosted this week with Energy Secretary Brouillette, as well as Senator Cramer’s work this year to advance the 45Q carbon capture tax credit.

“Once again, North Dakota is leading the way. Through this carbon capture technology, Project Tundra is ground zero for the future of reliable energy production in this country,” said Senator Cramer. “As Energy Secretary Brouillette outlined in Minot this week, reliable energy sources like coal keep the lights on when others cannot. They are an indispensable part of President Trump’s energy dominance agenda, and we are committed to supporting them and advancing tools like the 45Q tax credit to ensure projects like this keep moving forward.”

“We were happy to host Senator Cramer at the test well facility to show him the great progress we’ve made with Project Tundra,” said Mac McLennan, President and CEO of Minnkota Power Cooperative. “That progress wouldn’t have happened without his and the North Dakota Congressional delegation’s tremendous support and commitment to making our state a leader in energy technology development.“


Project Tundra is an effort led by Minnkota Power Cooperative, along with the University of North Dakota’s (UND) Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC), to retrofit the Milton R. Young Station with carbon capture technology. Once completed, more than 90 percent of the CO2 emissions from the Young Station’s Unit 2 generator would be captured and stored more than a mile underground. It has the potential to make North Dakota a world leader in the development of next-generation energy technologies. The intent of today’s tour was to provide further education on the project and showcase the scientific and technical expertise they are leveraging to help design and hopefully build the world’s largest carbon capture project. Learn more here.


Senator Cramer has been working on a bipartisan basis with his colleagues on the EPW Committee, which has jurisdiction over this issue, to push the Trump Administration to advance the 45Q carbon capture tax credit, which passed through Congress in 2018 as a way to incentivize investment in technology to capture, store, and utilize carbon oxide. Efforts like Project Tundra sat on the sidelines waiting for the Administration to promulgate regulations on this credit to ensure they invest properly. When the Treasury Department released its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking earlier this year, Senator Cramer led North Dakota energy leaders like Minnkota Power Cooperative in offering their support for it.

“Minnkota Power Cooperative thanks Senator Cramer for his leadership in advancing the 45Q tax credit and his continued efforts to ensure the IRS guidelines provide a clear path forward for investment in carbon capture technology. 45Q is a vitally important incentive for the Minnkota-led Project Tundra, which aims to build the world’s largest carbon capture system in North Dakota,” Mac McLennan said at the time. “We are encouraged by the release of the proposed rule by IRS and look forward to continuing work with Senator Cramer to ensure the final version helps Project Tundra secure the support it needs to become a reality.”


In addition to his work on the 45Q tax credit and support of Project Tundra, Senator Cramer is leading efforts in the Senate to assist the coal industry like calling for the expiration of the Wind Production Tax Credit and supporting legislation to modernize the 48A clean coal facilities tax credit.