NextDecade to add CCS to Texas LNG facility

Incorporating carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) at the planned Rio Grande LNG terminal in Texas would capture nearly all of the facility’s CO₂ emissions, planner NextDecade said November 19.

NextDecade submitted an application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for an amendment to its proposal for the Rio Grande LNG terminal (RGLNG) to include CCS into the design.

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“By voluntarily incorporating the CCS systems into the RGLNG terminal, RGLNG will be able to capture at least 90% of the RGLNG terminal’s CO₂ emissions, and provide foreign markets with a significantly less carbon-intensive source of domestically produced LNG,” the filing read.

NextDecade is planning a five train LNG facility in Texas on the banks of the Brownsville ship channel just south of Corpus Christi. It has a planned production capacity of 27mn mt/yr of LNG.

The project already has an offtake commitment from Anglo-Dutch major Shell, though an agreement with European utility Engie fell through last year, owing to concern over the project’s emissions profile.

NextDecade, however, formed a subsidiary called NEXT Carbon Solutions to develop what it says will be one of the largest CCS facilities in North America at the Rio Grande site.

NextDecade scrapped plans for an LNG plant at Galveston Bay in January, following advice from the US Army Corps of Engineers that part of the project site falls under a special navigation designation, which would require Congressional approval to remove.