Gas

NET Power to go public with $1.5 billion SPAC deal

Occidental hopes to incorporate NET Power plants into Direct Air Capture (DAC) hubs.

Carbon capture technology company NET Power is expected to go public through a business combination agreement with special purpose acquisition company Rice Acquisition Corp. II. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2023.

The NET Power capture system utilizes the Allam-Fetvedt Cycle, combusting natural gas with oxygen, as opposed to air, and uses supercritical carbon dioxide as a working fluid to drive a turbine instead of steam. This theoretically eliminates all air emissions, including traditional pollutants and CO2 and inherently produces pipeline-quality CO2 that can be sequestered underground.

NET Power says its cycle captures over 97% of CO2 generated. In November 2022 the company announced a plan to develop and build its first utility-scale natural gas-fired plant with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).

Danny Rice, current director of RAC II will take over the combined company, to be named NET Power Inc., and “lead it through commercialization and beyond.”

“We have long believed that if you can use natural gas, generate reliable electricity, and capture the resulting emissions, you would change the world,” said outgoing NET Power CEO Ron DeGregorio.

Valued at nearly $1.5 billion including debt, NET Power Inc. is expected to receive about $535 million of cash, including $100 million from the Rice Family and $225 million of private-investment-in-public-equity (PIPE) commitments from Occidental Petroleum Corp., 8 Rivers and Constellation Energy.

Occidental is advancing feasibility studies to incorporate NET Power plants into Direct Air Capture (DAC) hubs being developed by its 1PointFive subsidiary, where approximately 30 – 40 plants could provide enough clean power for a DAC program capturing 100 – 135 million metric tons of CO2 per year.