BKV Corporation (BKV) and EnLink Midstream, LLC announced today the initial injection of carbon dioxide waste generated from EnLink’s Bridgeport natural gas processing plant, and neighboring operations, at BKV’s Barnett Zero carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) facility.
Barnett Zero is one of the first purpose-drilled, Class II commercial carbon sequestration well injecting CO2 waste from natural gas processing plants in the United States, and with the initial injection, BKV and EnLink will be among the first energy companies to have commercial carbon capture and sequestration operations in the nation.
EnLink will transport the natural gas produced by BKV in the Barnett to its natural gas processing plant in Bridgeport, Texas, where the CO2 waste stream will be captured and transported to a BKV facility, compressed, and then sequestered via BKV’s nearby underground injection control well. The project is forecasted to achieve an average sequestration rate of up to approximately 210,000 metric tons of CO2e per year over the course of the project life. The initial CO2 injection at the Barnett Zero facility recently commenced operations safely and ahead of schedule.
“We are thrilled to officially commence our Barnett Zero Project and begin our newest chapter – commercial CCS operations,” said Chris Kalnin, CEO of BKV. “BKV has an actionable path to net-zero Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions from its upstream operations by the early 2030s and is committed to achieving net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions from its upstream operations by the end of 2025. Executing at Barnett Zero and building our CCS business is an important part of this journey and our mission to deliver a carbon-sequestered natural gas product to the world.”
Through the project, BKV and EnLink will dispose of and geologically sequester CO2 generated as a byproduct of the production of BKV’s natural gas in the Barnett Shale. BKV and EnLink aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere by capturing CO2 emitted in connection with natural gas production activities, both from their own operations and from third parties.
“This project clearly demonstrates EnLink’s commitment to reducing emissions from our own operations and creating shareholder value,” said Jesse Arenivas, CEO of EnLink. “The commencement of operations for the Barnett Zero project with BKV reflects tangible progress on EnLink’s vision to create the future of midstream. EnLink now has carbon flowing through our pipelines, and I believe this will be the first of many CCS projects EnLink sees to fruition.”
The Class II well and initial CO2 injection at the Barnett Zero project were approved by the Texas Railroad Commission and the project’s Monitoring, Reporting and Verification Plan was approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in accordance with Subpart RR of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. BKV intends to use the Barnett Zero project as a modular prototype that can repeated and quickly scaled for future Class II and Class VI wells, as applicable.
BKV forecasts that its second CCS project, referred to as Cotton Cove, will commence commercial operations by the end of 2024 and achieve an average sequestration rate of up to approximately 45,000 metric tons of CO2 per year over the course of the project life. BKV reached internal final investment decision (FID) on the Cotton Cove project in late 2022 and is developing the project as a joint venture with Banpu Power US Corporation. BKV is actively pursuing the expansion of both the Barnett Zero and Cotton Cove projects, envisioning a future where these initiatives pilot and scale post-combustion carbon capture technology.
In addition to the Barnett Zero and Cotton Cove projects, BKV has identified three additional potential natural gas processing projects aimed at sequestering third-party emissions and expects to reach FID on such projects in either late 2023 or 2024. If approved and implemented, these three natural gas processing projects would provide a combined forecasted annual sequestration volume of at least approximately 970,000 metric tons per year of captured CO2e.