JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corporation (JX) and Sumitomo Corporation (Sumitomo) have executed consortium agreements to manage investment in the Louisiana Green Fuels BECCS project at Port of Columbia, Caldwell Parish, Louisiana in the US.
The project is developing a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production plant with renewable Naphtha as a byproduct utilising woody biomass waste, such as thinning, with the production capacity of 32 million gallons (120,000 kiloliters) per year.
Scheduled commercial operation date is 2029.
The Project will convert woody biomass waste into synthesis gas, and then synthesise and upgrade it into SAF and Renewable Naphtha (RN).
The Project is powered by a biomass-fired power plant using sawmill and other woody biomass waste attached with a carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS) facility addressing CO2 emitted from the Project, both installed onsite and owned by the Project.
As a result, the SAF and RN produced from this integrated Project achieves deeply negative carbon emission (equivalent to removing nearly 300,000 passenger cars from the road every year), according to the organisations.
Once complete, the Project will create approximately 150 direct jobs onsite, while five to six times as many indirect job opportunities are also expected.
Toshiya Nakahara, president and CEO of JX, said: “JX is excited to join this journey with Strategic Biofuels and Sumitomo, who possess remarkable technical, project management, business, and financing expertise and leadership, to jointly lead this Project to a success leveraging on our expertise in CCS built at Petra Nova CCUS project and other projects.
"We believe CCS will play a vital role in energy transition and realisation of carbon neutrality, and this Project also presents an excellent opportunity to enhance our capability for energy transition, including BECCS."
Koji Aso, managing executive officers of Sumitomo / head of energy innovation initiative, said: "We are deeply honored to have JX, which possesses abundant expertise and technological capabilities in the CCUS field through projects like the world's largest Petra Nova CCUS project, participate in this project.
"Together with Japanese companies possessing unique technologies, experiences, and knowledge in the decarbonisation field, we will provide various functions and values not only in terms of funding but also in collaboration with public and private stakeholders in both Japan and the United States, contributing to the success of the project."
JX and Sumitomo partner for Louisiana biomass-to-SAF project
