Chevron Launches Study For Carbon Capture Pilot Unit

Svante Inc. (formerly Inventys Inc.) said Feb. 6 that Chevron Technology Ventures (CTV) commissioned a pre-FEED study that will explore the potential for trialing Svante’s technology in Chevron’s operations.

The study will evaluate the feasibility and design of a 10,000 tonne-per-year carbon capture unit in one of Chevron’s California facilities and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2020.

“We are thrilled to be working alongside one of our earliest investors towards a solution that will contribute to a low carbon future,” Claude Letourneau, president and CEO of Svante Inc., said. “We have a demonstration plant in Saskatchewan capturing 10,000 tonnes per year from an industrial natural gas steam boiler. This project will take the learnings from our demonstration plant to design and build an improved second-of-a-kind facility using our state-of-the-art proprietary nano-filter technology.’’

Chevron has been an active supporter in developing carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies. One example of this is CTV’s investment in Svante. CTV first invested in Svante in 2014.

“At Chevron, we believe our industry is well-positioned to help commercialize carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies that will be essential for the energy transition,” Barbara Burger, president of Chevron Technology Ventures, said. “We have leveraged venture capital and trial capabilities, our experience, and our operations to support the development of low carbon solutions.”

“Demonstrating this technology in the field is an important step in advancing a technology towards commercialization and scale,” Burger said. “Commissioning this study reflects our commitment to advance breakthrough innovation that will be important in a low carbon economy and help Chevron deliver on our mission to produce and provide affordable, reliable and ever-cleaner energy.”

CTV invested in Svante through Fund V, which supports early to mid-stage companies developing emerging technologies that have the potential to improve Chevron’s core business. In 2018, CTV established a separate fund, the Future Energy Fund, to invest solely in breakthrough technologies that enable the energy transition. Chevron also participates in the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative’s (OGCI) $1 billion + investment fund, Climate Investments LLP. Climate Investments, which also invested in Svante, supports the development of technologies that will lower the carbon footprints of the energy and industrial sectors and their value chains.

Svante, a global carbon capture technology leader, offers companies in industries with hard-to-abate emissions a commercially viable way to capture large-scale CO₂ emissions from existing infrastructure at half the capital cost of traditional solutions.