CO2 from world's largest carbon capture project set for EOR
NRG Energy and JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration have completed Petra Nova, the world's biggest post-combustion carbon capture facility. Petra Nova has delivered more than 100,000 tonnes of captured CO2 to the West Ranch field in Texas since 19 September. The facility was turned over for operations after performance acceptance testing was completed on 29 December. Petra Nova can capture more than 5,000 tpd of carbon dioxide, which is equal to taking more than 350,000 vehicles off the road. Production at the West Ranch oilfield, owned by NRG, JX Nippon and Hilcorp Energy, is estimated to rise to 15,000 bpd once the CO2 is used for enhanced oil recovery, from about 300 bpd today.
NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG) and JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corporation (JX Nippon) have completed construction, on-budget and on-schedule, of Petra Nova, the world’s largest post-combustion carbon capture system.

“Completion of the Petra Nova project is an important milestone in our quest to help ensure reliable, affordable and increasingly cleaner energy from fossil fuels,” said Mauricio Gutierrez, President and CEO of NRG Energy. “This project represents another major step in NRG’s effort to reduce our carbon emissions and create a more sustainable energy future, and we are proud that this accomplishment was achieved on-budget and on-schedule in a competitive energy environment. I want to thank our partners at JX Nippon, Hilcorp and the US Department of Energy (US DOE) as well as the State of Texas, our contractors and lenders for their commitment to the successful completion of this landmark project.”

Petra Nova first captured carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) on 19 September 2016 and has delivered more than 100 000 tons of captured CO 2 to the West Ranch field through an 80 mile pipeline. Final performance acceptance testing on the facility was completed on 29 December 2016 and the facility turned over for operations. During performance testing, the system met all performance criteria including capturing more than 90% of CO 2 from a 240 MW equivalent slipstream of flue gas off an existing coal-fuelled electrical generating unit at the WA Parish power plant in Fort Bend County, southwest of Houston. At this level of operation, Petra Nova can capture more than 5000 tpd of CO 2 , which is the equivalent of taking more than 350 000 cars off the road.

“JX Nippon is very pleased to see the construction of the carbon capture system completed and operations commencing as planned, thanks to the great effort made by the Petra Nova team,” said Shunsaku Miyake, President and CEO of JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corporation. “We believe this project will contribute to significantly increasing incremental crude oil production from legacy oilfields and also will be a major step forward in helping to decrease CO 2 emissions globally.”

Construction on the Petra Nova project began in 2014 with a goal to be operational by the end of 2016. With construction completed the Petra Nova carbon capture facility has achieved this goal. “NRG and JX Nippon’s Petra Nova is the type of innovative, technologically advanced project that proves time and again that Texas is the world leader in energy innovation,” said Greg Abbott, Governor of the State of Texas.

Hilcorp Energy Company (Hilcorp), the operator of West Ranch oilfield, will use the captured CO 2 to boost production at West Ranch oilfield, jointly owned by NRG, JX Nippon and Hilcorp. Both Hilcorp and the University Of Texas Bureau Of Economic Geology will monitor the movement of CO 2 deep in the oil reservoir. Over the next few years, oil production at the field is currently estimated to increase from approximately 300 bpd before beginning enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations to production of up to 15 000 bpd using captured CO 2 .