French energy major TotalEnergies and Belgian green hydrogen company Tree Energy Solutions (TES) have joined forces to study and develop a large-scale production unit in the United States (US) for e-natural gas (e-NG), a synthetic gas produced from renewable hydrogen and CO2.
The project, expected to produce 100,000 to 200,000 metric tonnes of e-NG per year, will be equally owned by the partners and operated by TotalEnergies.
According to Total Energies, the e-NG will be produced in two steps. First, to produce renewable hydrogen, one gigawatt (GW) electrolyser will be powered by approximately two GW of wind and solar energy supplied by TotalEnergies through long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs), and then, this renewable hydrogen will be combined with biogenic CO2 to obtain the e-NG.
The resulting e-NG produced can be transported and/or liquefied, then sold like natural gas, using existing infrastructure, and end customers will be able to use it without any adaptation to their facilities, TotalEnergies said.
To note, the companies aim to reach a final investment decision (FID) in 2024, and the project is expected to benefit from tax credits under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Stéphane Michel, President, Gas, Renewables & Power at TotalEnergies, stated: “We are pleased to partner with TES to pioneer the development of the e-NG industry. This synthetic fuel will contribute to the energy transition by helping our customers to decarbonise their activities, notably the ones that are difficult to electrify.”
“This product presents two significant advantages. First, it does not require any new logistical infrastructure since e-NG and natural gas have the same properties and can therefore be mixed in existing infrastructures. Second, our customers will not have to change their current industrial processes.”
“The US has many advantages for the development of our first e-NG project, including well-developed gas infrastructure, growing renewable power generation capacity and significant public subsidies.”
Marco Alverà, CEO of TES, commented: “The strategic cooperation with TotalEnergies is an important milestone towards large-scale e-NG production… This groundbreaking project testifies to the effectiveness of the IRA in the US. Today’s announcement confirms that cooperation among all players is what will make the energy transition possible.”