JX Nippon Oil & Gas and Sumitomo Corporation to Lead Investment in Louisiana Green Fuels Project

JX Nippon Oil & Gas and Sumitomo Corporation have inked consortium agreements to oversee investment in the Louisiana Green Fuels BECCS project at Port of Columbia, Caldwell Parish, Louisiana. The project, slated for commercial operation in 2029, focuses on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production alongside renewable Naphtha, utilizing woody biomass waste like thinning. With a production capacity of 32 million gallons annually, the project aims to convert woody biomass waste into synthesis gas, subsequently synthesizing and upgrading it into SAF and Renewable Naphtha. Integral to the endeavor is a biomass-fired power plant equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities to address emitted CO2, owned and installed onsite. The project's innovative approach boasts profoundly negative carbon emissions, equivalent to removing nearly 300,000 passenger cars from the road annually. Moreover, it is anticipated to create around 150 direct jobs onsite, with five to six times as many indirect job opportunities, promising to enhance local quality of life. Toshiya Nakahara, President, and CEO of JX, expressed enthusiasm, stating, "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 success leveraging our expertise in CCS built at Petra Nova CCUS project and other projects." Koji Aso, Managing Executive Officer of Sumitomo and Head of Energy Innovation Initiative, conveyed honor in the partnership, remarking, "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, participating in this project." Aso further emphasized collaboration with Japanese companies to contribute to the project's success through funding and engagement with public and private stakeholders in Japan and the United States.