Petra Nova
| Company type | Joint venture |
|---|---|
| Industry | Carbon capture and storage |
| Founded | January 10, 2017 |
| Headquarters | Thompsons, Texas , United States |
Area served | Texas |
| Products | Carbon capture technology (KM CDR Process) |
| Owner | JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration (100% as of 2022) |
| Parent | Eneos Holdings Inc |
Petra Nova represents a carbon capture initiative focused on minimizing emissions from a boiler at the WA Parish Generating Station, a coal-powered facility located in Thompsons, Texas. This extensive investment by NRG Energy and JX Nippon Oil involved retrofitting the boiler with post-combustion carbon capture technology to process a portion of its flue gas.
Construction and Initial Operation
The coal-fired station commenced commercial operations in 1977, with its carbon capture system becoming active on January 10, 2017. Petra Nova was engineered to capture roughly one-third of the carbon dioxide () emissions—around 1.6 million tonnes each year—from boiler number eight.
The captured is purified to 99% concentration, compressed, and then transported via an 82-mile pipeline to the West Ranch Oil Field for use in enhanced oil recovery. Prior to injection, the oil field’s output was about 300 barrels daily; following CO2 injection, production surged to approximately 15,000 barrels per day. The project was intended to function for a minimum of two decades, with ongoing monitoring conducted by the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology to observe underground movement of , adhering to Clean Coal Power Initiative requirements.
On May 1, 2020, NRG halted Petra Nova operations due to depressed oil prices linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. Technical difficulties, mainly stemming from outages in the associated natural gas cogeneration unit, resulted in the project achieving only 83% of its targeted carbon sequestration during its initial three years.
Restarting
On September 14, 2022, Japan-based Eneos Holdings Inc took full control of Petra Nova Parish Holdings. Its subsidiary, JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration, acquired NRG Energy Inc’s remaining 50% interest for $3.6 million. This move was aimed at strengthening Eneos’ capabilities in carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies, with intentions to resume operations in Q2 2023. Subsequently, on September 13, 2023, JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration announced that the facility had recommenced activity as of September 5, 2023.
Technology
The Petra Nova facility utilizes an amine-based absorption technique called the KM CDR Process (Kansai Mitsubishi Carbon Dioxide Recovery), developed jointly by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kansai Electric Power. This method employs a proprietary solvent known as KS-1 to extract from flue gas through an absorber-stripper setup. The recovered CO2 is compressed into a supercritical fluid exceeding 99% purity and transported over an 82-mile pipeline to the West Ranch oil field for enhanced oil recovery purposes. Ultimately, the is stored approximately 5,000 feet beneath the surface within sandstone formations spanning more than 4,000 acres.
Economics
Installation of the Petra Nova system required an investment near $1 billion, partially funded by a U.S. government grant close to $190 million under the Clean Coal Initiative and a $250 million loan from Japan’s government. The project expected financial gains through increased oil extraction; however, initial projections assuming $100-per-barrel oil prices were overly optimistic. By 2017, with market prices around $50 per barrel, the endeavor experienced net losses in oil revenue. Consequently, on May 1, 2020, NRG suspended Petra Nova operations citing weak oil prices amid the COVID-19 crisis.