New Projects - Gas

NET Power tapped for up to 1 GW of low-carbon baseload power in California

Under a MOU, NET Power and Carbon TerraVault plan to conduct feasibility studies on locating NET Power’s facilities in proximity to CTV’s underground storage vaults, which the companies say could reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) transportation costs and midstream investments for CTV’s operations.
NET Power tapped for up to 1 GW of low-carbon baseload power in California
A test facility in Texas generating zero-emission electricity from natural gas delivered electricity onto a power grid in 2021 in a global first for the technology. (Courtesy: NET Power)

California Resources Corporation (CRC), and its carbon management business, Carbon TerraVault (CTV), announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with NET Power to develop the latter’s “ultra-low emission” power plants in California.

Under the terms of the MOU, the parties plan to conduct feasibility studies on locating NET Power’s facilities in proximity to CTV’s underground storage vaults, which the companies say could reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) transportation costs and midstream investments for CTV’s operations. The parties plan to facilitate the initial deployment of up to 1 gigawatt (GW) of power capacity from NET Power’s new modular plants in Northern California, which could result in up to 3.6 million metric tons per annum (MMTPA) of CO2 emissions for permanent sequestration in CTV’s nearby reservoirs. Each of NET Power’s utility-scale modular plants is expected to require less than 20 acres, generate up to 250 MW, and be deployable in multi-plant configurations, the company said.

NET Power claims its plants will be designed to eliminate “substantially all” carbon emissions with near-zero air particulate and gaseous pollutants, including nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur oxides (SOx).

This MOU marks NET Power’s initial entry into California’s power market and positions CTV as an early strategic partner in the deployment of NET Power’s power technology. Including this agreement, CTV’s carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects under consideration total approximately 7.8 MMTPA of CO2 emissions and if successful, would enable up to 2.1 GWs of new, low-carbon power capacity in California.

The NET Power capture system utilizes the Allam-Fetvedt Cycle, combusting natural gas with oxygen, as opposed to air, and uses supercritical carbon dioxide as a working fluid to drive a turbine instead of steam. This theoretically eliminates all air emissions, including traditional pollutants and CO2 and inherently produces pipeline-quality CO2 that can be sequestered underground.

In 2021, NET Power claimed a global first when its test facility in Texas generating zero-emission electricity from natural gas delivered electricity onto a power grid. In November 2022 the company announced a plan to develop and build its first utility-scale natural gas-fired plant with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). NET Power has a “backlog of utility-scale power plant projects,” with initial commercialization expected in 2026.

In June last year, NET Power announced the completion of its previously announced business combination with special purpose acquisition company Rice Acquisition Corp. II.