NextDecade Corp. withdrew its application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build a carbon capture and storage (CCS) unit at its 27-million tonne/year (tpy) Rio Grande LNG (RGLNG) plant under construction in Cameron County, Tex., along the Brownsville Ship Channel, the company said Aug. 21.
The company also requested the FERC terminate the CCS proceeding.
“We appreciate the FERC’s diligence during the review process,” NextDecade chairman and chief executive officer Matt Schatzman said. “The CCS project at RGLNG is not sufficiently developed to allow FERC review to continue at this time.”
NextDecade proposed the CCS project in 2021 to reduce permitted CO2 emissions at Rio Grande by more than 90%.
This month, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit vacated the company’s FERC permit to move forward with the LNG plant, saying that FERC failed to issue a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement during its remand process (OGJ Online, Aug. 6, 2024).
As of now, construction continues on the first three liquefaction trains and related infrastructure (Phase 1) at the plant. NextDecade is evaluating the impact of the court’s decision on the timing of a positive final investment decision (FID) on Train 4. The company had been anticipating positive FID in this year's second half.
