Texas LNG facility to incorporate CCS
Carbon dioxide emissions from a planned LNG facility in Texas could decline more than 90% by incorporating carbon capture and storage technology, Houston-based NextDecade Corp. said this week.
NextDecade in a March 18 statement said it formed a subsidiary, NEXT Carbon Solutions, to develop what it said would be among the largest CCS facilities in North America at its Rio Grande LNG project.
|
Advertisement: The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) NGC’s HSSE strategy is reflective and supportive of the organisational vision to become a leader in the global energy business. |
“The launch of NEXT Carbon Solutions comes at a pivotal time for our nation and the world, and we are eager to demonstrate the transformative and impactful contributions this business will make to the global energy industry and the quest toward a net-zero future,” NextDecade’s CEO Matt Schatzman stated.
The company said the CCS project could cut CO2 emissions by more than 90% without any major design changes. Costs associated with developing its Rio Grande LNG project at the same time as the CCS facility could be as much as 80% lower than retrofitting the entire project once it is in service.
The CCS decision builds on an announcement by NextDecade in October 2020 that it saw CCS as the most feasible option for its plans to reach carbon neutrality for Rio Grande LNG. Schatzman said at the time that its research found that competitively-priced LNG and environmental stewardship “are not mutually exclusive.”
The company received authorisation from the federal government last year to export LNG to countries both with and without a US free-trade agreement. If built to capacity, total exports could be equivalent to around 1.3 trillion ft3/yr of natural gas and represent an infrastructure investment of more than $15bn, a cost estimate that preceded the CCS decision.
NextDecade believes the 27mn mt/yr Rio Grande LNG plant at the Port of Brownsville, Texas, is a low-cost, green option. A final investment decision on its first phase is expected in 2021.