A higher cost of electricity in the Permian Basin was the topic of the Midland-Odessa Transportation Alliance (MOTRAN) Annual Meeting, held Thursday at the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum.
Mark Coalmer, vice president of Projects for NET Power, provided attendees with a glimpse of the technology that officials across the region hope will help with enhanced oil recovery and that could assist residents in the Permian, who paid over $1 billion in electric costs over the last three years because of the lack of critical power infrastructure, according to MOTRAN.
“People needed to hear (Coalmer) talk because everybody in Midland and Odessa is overpaying for electricity today due to high congestion cost,” said James Beauchamp, MOTRAN president. “So, anything that we can do — whether that’s additional grid infrastructure like was talked about at the PUC meeting this week or building new power plants that are putting additional power into our local system here — are important in helping control and cartel those costs and meet future demand.”
NET Power is a clean energy company with technology that affordably generates zero-emissions from natural gas. Coalmer’s overview included that NET Power’s technology is proven as a
demonstration plant in the Texas Gulf Coast city of La Porte has achieved more than 1,500 operational hours and was synchronized to the Texas grid in 2021.
Coalmer said a first, yet-to-be-constructed plant around Midland-Odessa could generate power by the first half of 2028. Targeted statistics include generation capacity of 250-300 MWe (megawatt electric) and 850,000 tonnes a year of CO2 exported. The plant will be owned by NET Power with Oxy set to receive power for its use. Coalmer added that power not taken by Oxy will be available for “strategic customers.”
This technology not only allows NET Power to produce power and capture CO2, but it also will help decrease emissions by 97% or more, Coalmer said.
The longer runway before the completion of the first plant will allow officials to make sure things are done right for the building of other plants around the area.
“The next several are in the cue,” Coalmer said.
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