Baker Hughes (NASDAQ: BKR) and Woodside Energy (ASX: WDS; NYSE: WDS) have announced a new joint initiative to develop a lower-carbon power generation technology solution.
The collaboration, revealed on Thursday, will utilise the Net Power (NYSE: NPWR) platform, specifically designed for oil and gas, LNG, heavy industries, and other smaller-scale applications.
This initiative builds upon the companies’ 2022 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which aimed to advance the decarbonisation of the natural gas supply chain.
The partnership has now progressed to a Technology Development Agreement (TDA) focused on developing the small-scale Net Power platform.
The patented Net Power technology employs natural gas to generate affordable power while inherently capturing nearly all carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
This innovative approach could significantly reduce the carbon footprint of power generation in various industrial sectors.
Baker Hughes, as the exclusive provider of the small-scale application of the Net Power platform, will leverage ongoing development and testing at Net Power’s La Porte, Texas demonstration facility and the planned utility-scale power plant near Midland, Texas.
Julie Fallon, Woodside Executive Vice President of Technical and Energy Development, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, stating: “We are excited to continue our collaboration with Baker Hughes and leverage their leading-edge technology and our combined engineering and CCUS capabilities to explore and develop lower-carbon emissions alternative power solutions using Net Power’s platform.”
Alessandro Bresciani, Senior Vice President of Climate Technology Solutions at Baker Hughes, emphasised the company’s commitment to innovative decarbonisation solutions, stating: “We believe this framework represents the partnerships and collaborations necessary to develop and scale the energy solutions that support decarbonisation while also meeting the world’s growing energy demand.”
Net Power’s CEO, Danny Rice, applauded the enhanced collaboration, noting its potential to expand the technology’s applications and complement their utility-scale program and strategy.
The partnership aims to bring additional development partners into the program to tailor the concept for evolving requirements in different captive power generation segments.
The TDA will also focus on assessing the feasibility and industrial market scalability of Net Power’s platform.
This collaboration marks a significant step forward in the development of sustainable energy solutions, potentially revolutionising power generation in energy-intensive industries while addressing global decarbonisation goals.
