NextDecade Corporation has scrapped plans to have a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project located at its Rio Grande liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Texas.
The US LNG specialist has withdrawn its application at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the CCS site and requested that it terminate the CCS proceeding.
NextDecade Chairman CEO Matt Schatzman said the project is not sufficiently developed to allow FERC review to continue at this time.
“The CCS project at RioGrande LNG is not sufficiently developed to allow FERC review to continue currently. We remain committed to advancing and lowering the cost of utilising CCS and helping companies reduce facility emissions achieve clean energy goals.”
At full scale, RioGrande LNG is expected to produce 27 million metric tonnes of LNG annually for export markets around the world. This is enough to meet the annual heating requirements of nearly 20 million households.
Prior to the news of NextDecade withdrawing the CCS aspect of the project, Rio Grand LNG was going to be the first and only US LNG project to offer CO2 emissions reduction of more than 90% via CCS.
Earlier this month (August 2024), NextDecade signed a $4.3bn lump sum engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for the fourth train of the Rio Grande LNG facility in Texas.
Rio Grande LNG Train 4, a subsidiary of NextDecade, awarded the contract to Bechtel Energy. It was announced in January that the pair hoped to finalise the contract in the first half of 2024.
Read more: NextDecade signs $4.3bn EPC contract with Bechtel for Rio Grande LNG
In the past, there have been several called for local communities to stop construction of the LNG terminal. Those who have raised concerns for the project say it will be the second largest single-source polluter in the region and would severely degrade local fishing, shrimping, and nature tourism industries.
Read more: Texas communities call for stop on Rio Grande LNG
Even with the CCS aspect, now scrapped, those looking to stop the project said that Rio Grande LNG is estimated to emit the equivalent emissions of 44 coal power plants every year, or around 163 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent.
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