Hackberry Carbon Sequestration project launched at Cameron LNG in Louisiana

French energy major TotalEnergies, U.S. LNG company Sempra Infrastructure, Japanese energy company Mitsui, and Japan’s trading company Mitsubishi Corporation have signed an agreement for the development of the Hackberry Carbon Sequestration (HCS) project at Cameron LNG, Louisiana, U.S.

The HCS project is primarily designed for the capture, transportation, and storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) from Cameron LNG, a natural gas liquefaction and export facility.

The facility is located just outside the southwest Louisiana town of Hackberry straddling the boundary between Calcasieu and Cameron Parish. Cameron LNG’s partners are Sempra Infrastructure, Mitsui & Co., Mitsubishi Corporation, TotalEnergies, and NYK Line. Together, these companies represent extensive LNG market and shipping experience.

With this project, the CO2 will be captured by the acid gas removal units, dehydrated, compressed, and transported by pipeline about ten kilometers away. It will then be permanently stored in a saline aquifer using an injection well with a capacity of up to two million tonnes of CO2 per year.

In August 2021, the HCS project filed an application with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the construction permit of such an injection well. Moreover, this is the first application to be accepted by the EPA in Louisiana.

“We are pleased to join force with our partners to significantly reduce CO2 emissions at Cameron LNG export terminal, thus enabling us to supply our customers with low-carbon LNG, a key fuel for the energy transition and a valuable asset for diversifying Europe’s energy supply,” said Thomas Maurisse, senior vice president LNG at TotalEnergies. “This project, aiming at reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the LNG value chain, is a concrete illustration of TotalEnergies’ sustainability and climate strategy implementation.”

“We are excited to advance the development of the Hackberry Carbon Sequestration project, the first of Sempra Infrastructure’s net-zero solutions projects, to help Cameron LNG produce cleaner LNG for its customers,” said Justin Bird, CEO of Sempra Infrastructure. “This project is expected to be among the first North America carbon capture facilities designed to receive and store CO2 from multiple sources, and our goal is for this facility to set the gold standard for safe and permanent CO2 storage”

Development of the Hackberry Carbon Sequestration project remains subject to definitive agreements, obtaining the necessary permits, and all partners reaching a final investment decision.

TotalEnergies says it is on track to achieve its ambition of developing a storage capacity of ten million metric tons of CO2 per year by 2030. It will do so through significant industrial projects such as Northern Lights in Norway and Aramis in the Netherlands.