A test facility in Texas generating zero-emission electricity from natural gas, delivered electricity onto a power grid this week in a global first for the technology.
NET Power said the breakthrough occurred at its 50 MWth facility in La Porte, Texas, which achieved grid sync in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) region.
“This is a Wright-brothers-first-flight kind of breakthrough for energy— zero-emission, low-cost electricity delivered to the grid from natural gas-fueled technology,” said NET Power CEO Ron DeGregorio.
“Now we can expand on our deep bench of partners to accelerate development of commercial NET Power projects around the world that are urgently needed to help achieve aggressive climate targets at an affordable price.”
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.
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 working with multiple clients worldwide to develop utility-scale NET Power plants, with initial projects aiming to come online in the next five years.
Jesse Jenkins, an energy professor and researcher at Princeton University, described Tuesday’s announcement as “momentous.”
