HOUSTON—Next Carbon Solutions (NCS) and California Resources Corporation (CRC) have announced an agreement to explore ways to decarbonise CRC’s Elk Hills Power Plant. NCS will deploy its post-combustion carbon capture processes for CRC’s CalCapture CCS+ project to capture and utilise emissions from the Elk Hills Power Plant for storage in oil producing reservoirs.

NCS will conduct a front-end engineering design (FEED) study for the post combustion capture and compressions of up to 95% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) produced at the 550-megawatt (MW) natural gas, combined cycle ELK Hills Power Plant in Kern Country, California. The FEED is expected to take around six months. 

“NEXT Carbon Solutions is developing proprietary processes which are expected to capture up to 95% of CO2 emissions at the Elk Hills Power Plant while lowering the cost of post combustion carbon capture,” said Matt Schatzman, Chairman and CEO of NextDecade Corporation. “We look forward to advancing NEXT Carbon Solutions' proprietary processes for CRC's CalCapture CCS+ project and with their leading CCS position in California.”

Mac McFarland, President and Chief Executive Officer of California Resources Corporation stated, “CRC is committed to responsibly meeting California’s energy demands while reducing our carbon intensity. The CalCapture CCS+ project has the potential to be the first homegrown net zero barrel made in California by Californians while capturing and storing 28 million metric tonnes of CO2 over its project life. This locally created energy is crucial for a state with high environmental standards that also imports over 70 percent of its crude oil needs with a higher carbon intensity than what can be made locally. We are excited by NCS’ proprietary carbon capture processes which lower costs and demonstrate scalable carbon solutions to help California achieve its energy goals.”