TotalEnergies, Sempra Infrastructure, Mitsui & Co Ltd, and Mitsubishi Corporation have jointly signed an agreement to develop the Hackberry Carbon Sequestration (HCS) project at Cameron LNG, a natural gas facility in Southwest Louisiana, US.

The HSC project will capture, transport, and store carbon dioxide from Cameron LNG, with the acid gas removal units, used to capture the CO2, dehydrate, compress, and transfer it via pipeline to the facility located 10 kilometres away. An injection well with a capacity of up to 2 million tons of CO2 per year will be used to store the gas in a saline aquifer permanently.

The HCS applied for a construction permit to construct the injection from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in August 2021, making it the first to be accepted by the EPA in Louisiana.

“We are pleased to join forces 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 TotalEnergies’ Senior VP LNG, Thomas Maurisse.

Maurisse also added the HCS project, which aims to reduce green gas emissions associated with LNG, was clear proof of the company’s sustainability and climate strategy implementation.

According to Justin Bird, the Sempra Infrastructure CEO, they were excited to support the development of the HCS project, which was his company’s first net-zero solution project.

He also noted that the project would be among North America’s first carbon capture facilities designed to receive and store CO2 from diverse sources. Bird expects the facility to set the highest standard for safe and permanent storage of CO2.

Development of the HCS project is subject to a definitive agreement between the interested companies, getting the necessary permits, and a joint investment decision by all partners.

TotalEnergies’ priority is to reduce carbon emissions by implementing a systemic approach and the best available technologies. The company is developing industrial projects for carbon capture, transport, and storage and hopes to complete the development of a storage facility of 10 million metric tons of CO2 per year by 2030.