NET Power, a company that aims to generate zero-emission electricity from natural gas, has announced it has delivered electricity onto the ERCOT grid from its 50 MWth test facility in La Porte, Texas.
The company says this is the first time anywhere in the world this has been achieved, representing a major milestone for the energy industry.
NET Power’s technology burns natural gas and uses supercritical CO2 to generate electricity while inherently capturing CO2 and has now been validated in its delivery of electricity to the grid.Â
NET Power is working with multiple clients worldwide to develop utility-scale NET Power plants, with initial projects aiming to come online in the next five years. All CO2 captured by commercial NET Power plants will be permanently stored or utilized. NET Power projects have been publicly announced in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
NET Power’s technology combusts natural gas with oxygen, instead of air, and uses supercritical carbon dioxide as a working fluid to drive a turbine instead of steam. NET Power does not produce any nitrogen oxides (NOX), sulfur oxides (SOX) or particulate pollution, and the remaining CO2 is pipeline-quality to either be safely stored in underground geologic formations or utilized for industrial processes. NET Power produces only electricity, liquid water, and pipeline-ready CO2, while operating at high-efficiency, comparable to conventional power plants. Toshiba supplied the combustor and turbine for the La Porte test facility and was a key partner in the demonstration of NET Power’s technology.
NET Power is co-owned by Exelon Generation, McDermott International, 8 Rivers Capital, and Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV), a subsidiary of Occidental.