ContourGlobal plc (London, U.K.) and Alpek S.A.B. de C.V. (San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico) announced that they have formed a new company that is developing a CO2 capture and liquefaction facility for sale to the food, beverage, and medical industries. The facility will be integrated into ContourGlobal’s 420-MW Combined Heat and Power Plant located in Altamira, Mexico (CGA) which provides electricity, heat and steam to Alpek and its affiliates.
The new company will sustainably supply the rising need of food-grade CO2 in Mexico, which currently has an 80,000 tons per year deficit requiring expensive imports from the United States. The joint venture is well positioned to meet these supply shortfalls. For more than a decade ContourGlobal has been a leader in integrating CO2 capture and liquefaction into natural gas fired power plant operations, providing food grade CO2, and to date has captured over 300,000 tons of CO2. Contour has fully integrated five carbon capture facilities into power plant operations, and has maintained electricity generation reliability at or above levels of similar plants without CO2 capture. Its efforts have been recognized with numerous awards for innovation and environmental impact. Building on this expertise, ContourGlobal sees an opportunity to invest over $100m in CO2 capture or utilization investments over the next 18 – 24 months.
In the new company, ContourGlobal will be responsible for the construction and operation of the large-scale CO2 capture and liquefaction facility, while Alpek will be responsible for distribution, marketing, and sale of the food and beverage and medical quality CO2. Final commercial due diligence is underway with a final investment decision (FID) expected by the end of 3Q 2021.
This project builds upon and expands ContourGlobal’s demonstrated expertise with Carbon Capture, a technology that is recognized as being integral for countries and the world to become Net Carbon neutral by 2050
The project aligns with both companies’ sustainability objectives by removing CO2 from atmosphere and displacing the current transportation of CO2 from the United States, including ContourGlobal’s stated goal to reduce CO2 intensity by 40% by 2030 and become Net Carbon Neutral by 2050
Joseph C. Brandt, ContourGlobal Chief Executive Officer, said: “By capturing CO2 and processing it to food-grade standards we are improving the efficiency of our CGA plant in Mexico and meeting the needs of our industrial customers, while reducing our carbon footprint in line with our sustainability objectives. This venture combines the operational excellence of both partners, alongside ContourGlobal’s expertise in Carbon Capture and Alpek’s ability to leverage its long-standing customer relationships. We believe that the project will deliver a sustainable and commercial use for some of the CGA plant’s CO2 emissions while providing an attractive rate of return.”