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Leading a global carbon capture research and development network

<p>Southern Company assumed leadership of the Carbon Capture International Test Center Network (ITCN), a global coalition of facilities working to accelerate the research and development (R&amp;D) of carbon capture technologies. The National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) research facility managed and operated by Southern Company, will serve as the host site for the ITCN.</p>
<p>Formed in 2012, the ITCN facilitates knowledge-sharing among carbon capture test facilities around the world with the goal of advancing the development and commercial deployment of carbon capture technologies.</p>
<p>&quot;Southern Company is at the forefront of worldwide efforts to create the next generation of carbon capture technologies,&quot; said Southern Company Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Kimberly S. Greene. &quot;Through our partnership with DOE and ITCN members, we are building on our commitment to finding real solutions by developing advanced coal-based technologies.&quot;</p>
<p>The NCCC will chair and operate the ITCN with DOE's Office of Fossil Energy for the next two years, a role held by Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM) of Norway since 2013. The transfer of the chairmanship was officially observed during a ceremony today in Houston, attended by representatives of DOE, Southern Company and TCM.</p>
<p>Working with scientists and technology developers from government, industry and universities, the NCCC, located in Alabama, conducts R&amp;D to evaluate and advance emerging carbon capture technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from coal- and natural gas-based power generation.</p>
<p>An industry leader in robust, proprietary R&amp;D, Southern Company has managed more than $2 billion in R&amp;D investments since the 1960s. The Southern Company system's environmental R&amp;D also includes conducting the nation's largest demonstration of carbon capture on a pulverized-coal power plant at subsidiary Alabama Power's Plant Barry, and the development of Transport Integrated Gasification - or TRIG™ - the 21st century coal technology at the center of Southern Company subsidiary Mississippi Power's Kemper County energy facility. The Kemper project is designed to generate electricity from low-rank coal with resulting carbon emissions better than a similarly sized natural gas plant. TRIG™ and other proprietary technologies were developed at the NCCC.</p>