NextDecade advances Texas CCS efforts

US LNG company NextDecade said April 14 it had signed an engineering agreement with a division of Mitsubishi to develop post-combustion carbon capture technology for the Rio Grande LNG export facility in Texas.

NextDecade signed an engineering services agreement with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to utilise a proprietary process developed by the Japanese company that uses a specialised solvent to help facilitate CO₂ recovery.

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“This will be the world’s first application of post-combustion capture for LNG, and we expect this initiative will contribute to realising carbon neutrality in the years ahead,” Yoshihiro Shiraiwa, the head of the Japanese division, said.

A subsidiary of NextDecade announced last month it was leading development efforts to build what it said would be among the largest carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in North America at its Rio Grande LNG facility.

The CCS project could cut CO₂ emissions by more than 90% without any major design changes. Costs associated with developing the liquefaction facility 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.

NextDecade believes the 27mn mt/yr Rio Grande LNG plant at the Port of Brownsville is a low-cost, green option. A final investment decision on its first phase is expected in 2021.