NRG Energy plans to cut its carbon emissions in half by 2030.
The company aims to achieve this goal by investing in technology meant to reduce the release of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants.
NRG through a joint venture with Japanese energy company JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration is building a $1 billion carbon capture facility at its W.A. Parish power plant southwest of Houston.
It will absorb a portion of the released carbon and direct into a pipe leading to a nearby oil field, where it will be pumped underground to stimulate oil production.
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As the U.S. transitions to a renewables-driven, increasingly distributed, grid resilient energy system, the company can be a leader both in clean energy and in converting the CO² emissions of our conventional generation from a liability to a profitable by-product, stated, David Crane, CEO.
Most of NRG’s power plants nationwide are fuelled by natural gas and wind, but a third of its total power generation comes from coal.
By 2030, coal-fired power plants it operates will be minimized and technology like the kind at W.A. Parish will be big part of the solution.
In addition, it is actively exploring other coal-fired plants that could be candidates for carbon capture and reuse.
NRG has criticized Obama administration’s proposal to force power plans to cut their carbon emissions 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030, which comes with a front-loaded timeline that requires too many cuts by 2020.
Industry needs more time to make the cuts and to pursue greener energy as a shorter period will focus on replacing coal with natural gas, which still emits carbon dioxide.
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NRG admits that it is a major emitter of CO² and hopes that these cutbacks will help avoid the release of 3 billion tons of carbon by 2050, 90 percent reduction from 2014 levels.
Besides, the company plans to develop renewable generation, energy storage devices and distributed generation technology.
Distributed generation include power generators installed at the sites, run by solar or wind power.
NRG’s emissions goals are motivated by environmental concerns as well as business promotions. Embracing distributed solar is mainly for the purpose of growth. It is a threat to existing assets, and it’s better to be growing with the threat, according to NRG officials.
NRG is positioning itself to succeed during the next 20 years as it foresees businesses and homeowners generating most of the electricity they consume on their premises from their own resources, according to a research report.
Moreover, NRG has plans to buy Goal Zero, a Utah-based developer of portable solar-powered products.
Long ago, NRG Yield has announced that it would pay $870 million and assume $1.6 billion in debt to acquire the country’s largest wind farm in California.
In March, NRG acquired New Jersey-based Roof Diagnostics Solar, which sells and installs rooftop solar panels.
Sabeena Wahid
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