North Dakota approves permit for Cerilon’s proposed GTL complex

Cerilon Inc., Calgary, received regulatory approval on the final siting permit required for the operator's proposed plan to build a grassroots gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant near Trenton, Williams County, ND (OGJ Online, Oct. 21, 2021).

Following an extensive application review and public hearing held in June, the North Dakota Public Service Commission voted in late-September 2024 to approve a certificate of site compatibility for the Cerilon GTL North Dakota project after determining the planned complex's design and location will result in minimal impacts to both surrounding communities and the environment while simultaneously providing reliable energy sources for the state, Cerilon said.

Confirmation of the final siting permit follows Williams County's siting approval for the project granted earlier in the year, the operator said.

Designed to convert North Dakota's abundant natural gas supplies into 24,000 b/d of high-performance synthetic products that include ultralow-sulfur diesel (ULSD), naphtha, and Group IlI+ lubricant base oils, the proposed complex will be equipped with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), as well as have optionality to produce "transition," or sustainable, aviation fuel.

In addition to providing reduced-carbon products, the project's access to sufficient electrical power for startup and interconnection to the local power grid would enable the complex to produce and supply excess electricity to the state once the plant is fully operational, Cerilon said.

This latest approval follows operator's confirmation in June that it completed front-end-loading (FEL-2) and was moving into front-end engineering design (FEED) on the complex, which will be the last stage before the company makes a final investment decision (FID) on the project's estimated $2.8-billion first phase (OGJ Online, June 7, 2024; Mar. 14, 2024).

Cerilon, which is also seeking regulatory approvals for a Phase 2 complex of similar capacity on the same site, most recently said it expects to reach FID on the project in mid-2026.

Targeted for startup in 2028, Phase 1 of the GTL complex is anticipated to reach full operations in 2029, Cerilon said.