Gordon Henley is research operations manager for the National Carbon Capture Center, the U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored research facility managed and operated by Southern Company. Located in Wilsonville, Alabama, the center provides a neutral test facility for the development and commercialization of advanced technologies for carbon capture from fossil-based power generation, as well as carbon utilization and direct air capture technologies
As research operations manager, Henley is responsible for the National Carbon Capture Center’s operations and maintenance departments, gas analysis laboratory, warehouse, maintenance engineering, and contractor management. He supervises a team of plant operators and operations team leaders, maintenance craft employees and their team leaders, contractor coordinators and their management, as well as warehouse supervisors and gas analysis technicians.
Henley began his career with Southern Company in 1978 as an engineer working on the design and development of cooling towers and other innovative technologies for generating plants across the Southern Company system. He progressed through several roles of increasing responsibility at Mississippi Power’s Plant Watson, where he was responsible for plant performance, availability improvements and outage project management. He later served in management positions in maintenance, technical services and operations at both Plant Watson and Mississippi Power’s Plant Daniel.
In 1998, Henley was named plant manager at Mississippi Power’s Chevron Cogenerating plant, and in 2006 became manager of Plant Watson. In 2009, he joined the company’s generation development organization managing the Plant Ratcliffe integrated gasification combined-cycle project during its regulatory and development processes. He subsequently managed the startup and commercial operation of Plant Ratcliffe’s natural gas combined-cycle system, before assuming his current role at the National Carbon Capture Center.
Henley holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alabama.