Energy Construction
Bechtel Will Start Design of $6B Texas Carbon-Neutral Fuel Plant
Project developer HIF Global is building a test facility in Chile for its e-fuels technology, and said it could build a total of 12 larger-scale plants in that country, the U.S. and Australia.
Photo Courtesy HIF Global
Bechtel will perform front-end engineering and design of what it says is a $6-billion carbon-neutral fuel plant near Bay City, Texas—the first of 12 such manufacturing facilities planned by the Houston-based unit of e-fuels developer HIF Global that will combine captured carbon dioxide with green hydrogen to produce cleaner gasoline and jet fuel.
Bechtel will integrate technologies from Siemens Energy and Danish energy technology company Topsoe to produce 200 million gallons of the cleaner fuel each year at the planned 540-acre facility.
HIF Global received a state tax incentive, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The manufacturer will use Siemens' electrolyzers to produce green hydrogen. Topsoe will provide engineering and design for the methanol and methanol-to-gasoline process.
The methanol is produced by combining green hydrogen with carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere, HIF Global said. Methanol is synthesized into carbon-neutral fuel also using Topsoe technology.
The e-fuel can used in any existing vehicle without any engine modification, HIF Global said.
“Carbon-neutral e-fuels represent the new frontier for the energy sector, enabling renewable resources to fuel our mobile economy,” Meg Gentle, HIF Global’s U.S. unit executive director said in a statement.
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Six of the new plants will be built in Chile, three in Australia and three in the U.S. Local press reports said the company is considering a site for a second plant near Dallas.
HIF Global said it expects construction to begin in the first quarter of 2024 after Bechtel completes front-end engineering and design, with operations set to start in 2027. The company estimates the project will create 4,500 construction jobs.
HIF Global investors include German automaker Porsche, energy technology company Baker Hughes and Chile-based power generator AME.
