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First-of-its-kind, DOE-backed plant coming to Houston area

Carbon capture and storage

Houston power company Calpine announced plans to build the Baytown Carbon Capture and Storage Project, a carbon capture demonstration facility that aims to capture carbon dioxide from the Baytown Energy Center. Photo via DOE

The first full-scale implementation of carbon capture and storage technology at a natural gas combined cycle power plant in the U.S. is coming to Baytown.

Houston power company Calpine announced plans to build the Baytown Carbon Capture and Storage Project (Baytown CCS Project), which is a carbon capture demonstration facility that aims to capture carbon dioxide from the Baytown Energy Center (BEC). The BEC is a natural gas combined-cycle power plant in Baytown.

The Department of Energy recently announced that it will share in the cost of up to $270 million on the Baytown project. The DOE revealed more details on the project on its website.

The project aims to utilize Shell’s CANSOLV point-source technology to capture up to 2 million metric tons of CO2 per year, which is equivalent to the annual emissions of nearly 450,000 gasoline-powered cars. In addition, the project plans to sequester the CO2 in saline storage sites on the Gulf Coast.

Evaluating the use of greywater cooling to minimize freshwater consumption by reusing wastewater, the project’s primary power and steam off-taker Covestro hopes to prove “technologies that showcase the benefits of decarbonized process heat and electricity in the industrial sector,” according to a news release.

In December of 2023, Calpine was selected by the Department of Energy's Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations for a cost-sharing agreement for a commercial-scale carbon capture and storage project.

"This is a critical step towards decarbonizing Calpine’s facility, which is located on our Covestro Baytown site,” Demetri Zervoudis, Covestro head of operations for North America and Baytown site general manager, said in a previous news release. “Carbon capture and storage technology is an important tool for the chemical industry to reduce carbon emissions, and it is encouraging to see Calpine at the forefront of this transition.”

The Baytown Decarbonization Project was developed collaboratively with local stakeholders in East Houston. According to the company, the project has already incorporated community feedback into the project designs to reduce non-CO2 air pollutants and minimize the usage of freshwater. The company estimates creating 22-26 permanent jobs and 1,500,000 hours of construction jobs and has partnerships with minority-serving institutions.

“Carbon capture is an important technology for decarbonizing the electricity sector and the economy,” Thad Hill, CEO of Calpine Corp said in 2023 when the DOE decided to work with the CSS program. “Calpine is very grateful for the commitment and support for the project by our stakeholders.”

Calpine’s Baytown Decarbonization Project will capture around two million metric tons of carbon dioxide for permanent sequestration each year. Photo via LinkedIn

DOE taps Houston company's facility to advance carbon capture, storage infrastructure

greenlight

Earlier this month, a Houston power company was selected by the Department of Energy's Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations for a cost-sharing agreement for a commercial-scale carbon capture and storage project.

Calpine's Baytown Decarbonization project is projected to capture and store about two million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year. The Baytown Energy Center is an existing 896-megawatt natural gas combined heat and power facility, according to a news release, "that provides steam and power to the adjacent Covestro chemicals manufacturing facility as well as power to the Texas electric grid."

The project will add post-combustion carbon capture equipment that will reduce the emissions intensity of two of its three combustion turbines at a design capture rate of 95 percent. In addition to the Baytown project, the DOE also selected Calpine’s carbon capture project at its Sutter Energy Center in California.

“We are very pleased and honored that the DOE has recognized the quality of this project and the strength of Calpine’s CCS program,” Thad Hill, CEO of Calpine Corp., says in the release. “We are looking forward to working with the DOE to finalize the cost-sharing agreement and with our other stakeholders to advance the development of the Baytown Decarbonization Project. Carbon capture is an important technology for decarbonizing the electricity sector and the economy. Calpine is very grateful for the commitment and support for the project by our stakeholders.”

The Baytown Decarbonization Project is being developed collaboratively with local stakeholders in East Houston. In addition to expanding full-time job opportunities, Calpine will enhance workforce development programs, target procurement with diverse and small business enterprises, and work with local schools and other organizations.

"This is a critical step towards decarbonizing Calpine’s facility, which is located on our Covestro Baytown site,” Demetri Zervoudis, Covestro head of operations for North America and Baytown site general manager, says in the release. “Carbon capture and storage technology is an important tool for the chemical industry to reduce carbon emissions, and it is encouraging to see Calpine at the forefront of this transition.”

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CenterPoint’s Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative makes advancements on progress

step by step

CenterPoint Energy has released the first of its public progress updates on the actions being taken throughout the Greater Houston 12-county area, which is part of Phase Two of its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative.

The GHRI Phase Two will lead to more than 125 million fewer outage minutes annually, according to CenterPoint.

According to CenterPoint, they have installed around 4,600 storm-resilient poles, installed more than 100 miles of power lines underground, cleared more than 800 miles of hazardous vegetation to improve reliability, and installed more self-healing automation all during the first two months of the program in preparation for the 2025 hurricane season.

"This summer, we accomplished a significant level of increased system hardening in the first phase of the Greater Houston Resilience Initiative,” Darin Carroll, senior vice president of CenterPoint Energy's Electric Business, says in a news release.

”Since then, as we have been fully engaged in delivering the additional set of actions in our second phase of GHRI, we continue to make significant progress as we work toward our ultimate goal of becoming the most resilient coastal grid in the country,” he continues.

The GHRI is a series of actions to “ strengthen resilience, enable a self-healing grid and reduce the duration and impact of power outages” according to a news release. The following progress through early November include:

The second phase of GHRI will run through May 31, 2025. During this time, CenterPoint teams will be installing 4,500 automated reliability devices to minimize sustained interruptions during major storms, reduce restoration times, and establish a network of 100 new weather monitoring stations. CenterPoint plans to complete each of these actions before the start of the next hurricane season.

“Now, and in the months to come, we will remain laser-focused on completing these critical resiliency actions and building the more reliable and more resilient energy system our customers expect and deserve," Carroll adds.

CenterPoint also announced that it has completed all 42 of the critical actions the company committed to taking in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl. Some of the actions were trimming or removing higher-risk vegetation from more than 2,000 power line miles, installing more than 1,100 more storm-resilient poles, installing over 300 automated devices to reduce sustained outages, launching a new, cloud-based outage tracker, improving CenterPoint's Power Alert Service, hosting listening sessions across the service area and using feedback.

In October, CenterPoint Energy announced an agreement with Artificial Intelligence-powered infrastructure modeling platform Neara for engineering-grade simulations and analytics, and to deploy Neara’s AI capabilities across CenterPoint’s Greater Houston service area.

Greentown launches 3rd round of collaborative accelerator for energy tech founders of color

browning the green space

For the third year, Greentown Labs and Browning the Green Space have opened applications for ACCEL, a climatetech accelerator designed to bolster BIPOC-led companies.

The program, which is a year-long commitment providing opportunities across funding, networking connections, resources, and more, has applications open until January 7. Each selected company will receive non-dilutive grant funding up to $25,000, trainings from VentureWell, a desk and membership at Greentown Houston or Boston locations, a BGS membership, and more.

A handful of startups will be selected for the program, which is looking for companies at the two to four Technology Readiness Level (TRL) stage with a technology solution across agriculture, buildings, electricity, manufacturing, resiliency and adaptation, and transportation sectors.

“ACCEL has been amazing," Chidalu Onyenso, founder of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based EarthBond, a member of the 2022 cohort, writes on the website. "I’ve really enjoyed the membership and programming. I think it’s fantastic—if I met another Black or Brown founder focused on climatetech, I’d tell them to apply to this program, 100 percent.”

Earlier this year, the program — which is supported by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center,Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund, Equinor, Barr Foundation — named seven companies to its second cohort and six to its inaugural batch in 2022. The 13 companies across two cohorts so far have received $325,000 in grant funding from the program.

"These BIPOC-led startups are developing climate technologies that will lead us to a more equitable and sustainable future," MassCEC CEO Dr. Emily Reichert, the former CEO of Greentown, said of the second cohort in a news release. "We want ALL climatetech innovators and entrepreneurs to thrive here in Massachusetts. We are proud to support the ACCEL accelerator, created and led by Greentown Labs and Browning the Green Space. The ACCEL program is helping us build a more diverse innovation ecosystem by breaking down barriers and expanding opportunities."

Interested and qualifying companies can apply online.

Houston university launches global hub to drive innovation in sustainable energy, advanced technologies

incoming, India

Rice University is launching Rice Global India, which is a strategic initiative to expand India’s rapidly growing education and technology sectors.

The new hub will be in the country’s third-largest city and the center of the country’s high-tech industry, Bengaluru, India, and will include collaborations with top-tier research and academic institutions. Rice continues its collaborations with institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru. The partnerships are expected to advance research initiatives, student and faculty exchanges and collaborations in artificial intelligence, biotechnology and sustainable energy.

“India is a country of tremendous opportunity, one where we see the potential to make a meaningful impact through collaboration in research, innovation and education,” Rice President Reginald DesRoches says in a news release. “Our presence in India is a critical step in expanding our global reach, and we are excited to engage more with India’s academic leaders and industries to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time.”

India was a prime spot for the location due to the energy, climate change, artificial intelligence and biotechnology studies that align with Rice’s research that is outlined in its strategic plan Momentous: Personalized Scale for Global Impact.

“India’s position as one of the world’s fastest-growing education and technology markets makes it a crucial partner for Rice’s global vision,” vice president for global at Rice Caroline Levander adds. “The U.S.-India relationship, underscored by initiatives like the U.S.-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, provides fertile ground for educational, technological and research exchanges.”

On November 18, the university hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Bengaluru, India to help launch the project.

“This expansion reflects our commitment to fostering a more interconnected world where education and research transcend borders,” DesRoches says.

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This article originally ran on InnovationMap.

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