NextDecade Launches NEXT Carbon Solutions

NextDecade today announced the formation of NEXT Carbon Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of NextDecade.

NEXT Carbon Solutions intends to develop a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at NextDecade’s planned Rio Grande LNG in Brownsville, Texas. The CCS project at Rio Grande LNG is expected to enable the capture and storage of more than five million tonnes of CO₂ per year.
 
NextDecade believes developing the CCS project at the same time as the Rio Grande LNG project will result in 60-80 percent less capital costs compared to retrofitting an operating LNG facility. All-in costs of the CSS project are expected to be $63 to $74 per metric tonne of CO₂ before any benefit from Section 45Q tax credits. Section 45Q of the U.S. tax code allows for tax credits for capturing carbon oxides. Including the full benefit of Section 45Q tax credits, NextDecade expects the breakeven cost of adding CCS to Rio Grande LNG to be $13 to $24 per metric tonne of CO₂ or $0.05 to $0.09 per MMBtu on an LNG basis.

According to NextDecade the CCS project is expected to reduce permitted CO₂ emissions at Rio Grande LNG by more than 90 percent without major design changes to the Rio Grande LNG project. As a result NextDecade expects Rio Grande LNG to be the greenest LNG project in the world. 

“Efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions are at the very foundation of our company,” said Matt Schatzman, NextDecade’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “The launch of NEXT Carbon Solutions comes at a pivotal time for our nation and the world, and we are eager to demonstrate the transformative and impactful contributions this business will make to the global energy industry and the quest toward a net-zero future.”

NextDecade anticipates achieving FID on a minimum of two trains at Rio Grande LNG in 2021 and FID on the CCS project soon after FID at Rio Grande LNG.