teaming up

Australian renewable energy company taps Houston partner for first US project

GGS Energy and Vast Renewables Limited announced their agreement to work together on Project Bravo, Vast’s first deployment in the U.S. Photo via vast.energy

Houston-based project developer focused on energy transition has signed a new agreement to work on a synthetic fuels project in the Southwest United States.

GGS Energy and Australian company, Vast Renewables Limited, a renewable energy company specializing in concentrated solar thermal power systems, announced their agreement to work together on Project Bravo, Vast’s first deployment in the U.S. The company's CSP v3.0 technology will be deployed to create carbon-free heat and electricity for a co-located refinery that will generate green methanol and/or electrically powered sustainable aviation fuel, or e-SAF.

“CSP has the potential to unlock low-cost green fuel production in the U.S., and it can play a significant role in helping decarbonise shipping and aviation," Craig Wood, CEO of Vast, says in a news release. "We are delighted to have GGS Energy as a development partner to advance our plans in the U.S., which is a key market for Vast’s technology.”

Vast is currently building Solar Methanol 1, a CSP-powered green methanol reference plant that will be located in Australia at the Port Augusta Green Energy Hub. Project Bravo will build upon that plant here in the U.S. The location is still to be decided but will be in the Southwestern part of the country.

GGS Energy, which is founded in 2020 as a subsidiary of Glacier Global Partners that was formed in 2020, has infrastructure development experience across technologies, including utility scale CSP, coal-to-liquids projects, PV solar, wind, and more.

“GGS Energy is excited to partner with Vast and work to develop Project Bravo," Tommy Soriero from GGS Energy says in the release. "This collaboration marks a significant step toward a sustainable future, harnessing advanced technology to produce low-cost green fuels. We are eager to combine our expertise and resources to ensure the success and impact of future innovative projects starting with Project Bravo.”

Trending News

A View From HETI

HYCO1 has signed an agreement to convert 1 million tons per year of raw CO2 into industrial-grade syngas at a new carbon capture project in Malaysia. Photo via Getty Images.

Houston-based CO2 utilization company HYCO1 has signed a memorandum of understanding with Malaysia LNG Sdn. Bhd., a subsidiary of Petronas, for a carbon capture project in Malaysia, which includes potential utilization and conversion of 1 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.

The project will be located in Bintulu in Sarawak, Malaysia, where Malaysia LNG is based, according to a news release. Malaysia LNG will supply HYCO1 with an initial 1 million tons per year of raw CO2 for 20 years starting no later than 2030. The CCU plant is expected to be completed by 2029.

"This is very exciting for all stakeholders, including HYCO1, MLNG, and Petronas, and will benefit all Malaysians," HYCO1 CEO Gregory Carr said in the release. "We approached Petronas and MLNG in the hopes of helping them solve their decarbonization needs, and we feel honored to collaborate with MLNG to meet their Net Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050.”

The project will convert CO2 into industrial-grade syngas (a versatile mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen) using HYCO1’s proprietary CUBE Technology. According to the company, its CUBE technology converts nearly 100 percent of CO2 feed at commercial scale.

“Our revolutionary process and catalyst are game changers in decarbonization because not only do we prevent CO2 from being emitted into the atmosphere, but we transform it into highly valuable and usable downstream products,” Carr added in the release.

As part of the MoU, the companies will conduct a feasibility study evaluating design alternatives to produce low-carbon syngas.

The companies say the project is expected to “become one of the largest CO2 utilization projects in history.”

HYCO1 also recently announced that it is providing syngas technology to UBE Corp.'s new EV electrolyte plant in New Orleans. Read more here.

Trending News