JX Nippon buys Texas carbon capture project for $3.6mn

JX Nippon Oil & Gas, a subsidiary of Japan’s Eneos Holdings, has bought the Petra Nova carbon capture project in Texas from energy company NRG for $3.6mn, Hogan Lovells, the law firm which handled the deal, said on September 13.

The Japanese company has acquired full ownership of Petra Nova Parish Holdings, the operator of the project. JX Nippon previously owned a 50% interest in the project. 

The Petra Nova project will harness carbon dioxide emissions from a Texas coal-fired power plant. The project can capture and separate 1.6mn metric tons/year of carbon dioxide.

From its initial start-up in December 2016 to the end of the three-year demonstration period, the Petra Nova captured 92.4% of carbon dioxide from the slipstream of flue gas processed, the law firm said. In May 2020, Petra Nova was placed in reserve shutdown status due to a decline in energy prices, allowing it to be brought back online when economic conditions improved.