Backers of a claimed "clean energy" plant for Taranaki using natural gas to make electricity, hydrogen and fertiliser have broken cover after months of preparation to support an application for a Provincial Growth Fund loan of up to $20 million to test its feasibility.
"Using proven technology, the Taranaki facility provides for an end-to-end process that fully aligns with New Zealand's 2050 zero-carbon target while still meeting the immediate and ongoing needs of primary industry," said Pouakai NZ in a statement. "The production process does not generate any atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gases" because it injects carbon dioxide into depleted underground oil and gas fields.
Chaired by former New Zealand Post chief executive Brian Roche, Pouakai is 100 per cent-owned by 8 Rivers, a US-based company that has been running a 50 megawatt gas-fired power station using a new Allam Cycle process since mid-year. The plant is both more efficient than existing gas-fired electricity generation technology and claims to have solved the challenge of affordable carbon capture and storage.
Results from the US$400 million reference plant have attracted new investment in recent weeks from two major US energy companies, Occidental Petroleum and Exelon, which are seeking low-carbon and non-nuclear technologies to produce electricity in the future.
Pouakai says a key feature of the proposal is that it will "help to underpin and accelerate a rapid decarbonisation of New Zealand's power generation sector" and "will enable more rapid penetration of renewables into the generation mix while providing grid stability and dry-year back-up as New Zealand approaches its target of a fully decarbonised grid by 2035." It has lodged an application seeking support from the Provincial Growth Fund.